What was the MOST ridiculous thing a patient came to the ER for?

And did you have to treat them?

I am just curious. Your stories always seem to either crack me up or shake my head in amazement.

Thanks for sharing ?

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
I've mentioned this already here, but I believe that some women come to the ER for a pregnancy test because they believe they can get an abortion there if they are indeed pregnant.

I don't see why or how that they get that idea.

Even when I was a teen, when people were less conservative, I knew a lot of young women with "conception issues" and none of them would have gone to ER for that reason...even then, they knew better. Plus it was much easier to get a free pregnancy test at a place that did provide that. And I was not the most savvy teen.

It is pretty noised about that ERs, especially being hospitals do not generally provide that. Now D&C post a botched home or illegal attempt, maybe. But those indeed are emergency issues for hemmorhage or sepsis.

Specializes in ER.

Some turkey came in to triage complaining that his inner thighs had been chafing for two weeks. This was 1am. It was just too painful to bear.

Liposuction or diaper rash cream- we don't provide either one, so I don't know what he ended up doing.

Specializes in ER.

Chief complaint: Saw Santa, Became Scared

(As in Santa Claus!!!)

Specializes in ICU & LTAC as RN. FNP.
A mother bringing in an 15yo boy who had been playing on the escalator in the local shopping mall. He claimed to have gotten the bottom of his pant leg material stuck in the escalator, bent down and ripped it out with a hard pull. Nothing happened, no injury, no problem. She wanted a 'medical record' so that she could sue the shopping centre. When questioned the little *%$* admitted that he and his friends had been thrown out of the shopping centre by security officers many times for playing on he escalator.

Another time we had a mother bring in 3 little snotty nose brats to be "checked for snake bite". Nothing had happened, nobody had seen a snake. No symptoms. She had read a report in the local paper that it was snake season in the area.

I know this is an old post, but the snake bite one made me bust out laughing.

I had a pt come in because she swallowed her pills and had a bad taste in her mouth....

Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
I had a pt come in because she swallowed her pills and had a bad taste in her mouth....
:rolleyes::down:Now that really is wasting services.
Specializes in ICU and most recently ER.

in my short time in the ER (just under 4 mos), i've had a load of pt.s come in that need a brain transplant (obviously), but the funniest was when medcom called in "we're bringing a 51 yo male in with chief complaint of "feeling weird". " we all laughed listening to medcom, and when the pt. rolled through the doors, it was confirmed...yep, he's weird alright! looked like he'd stuck in finger in a light socket, smelled like he hadn't seen a shower in days (think dirty ash tray and beer spilled on himself--we thought initially he'd been incontinent, but no, he made a faux pas and spilled a beer on his pants), with no specific physical complaints. homeless, but with a neon green trick lookin' cell phone which he couldn't stay off of long enough for us to triage him in and answer our questions. then decided that he didn't want to cooperate with the nurses and left AMA. he never even asked for food, meds, anything, just seemed to have changed his mind. what a freakin' waste of money and time. ugh.

all i kept thinking that night was of that "just for men" commercial...."your BEARD is WEIRD". and it was.

Specializes in Emergency.

We had a (very) young adult pt come in because her family said she couldn't stop crying!

Specializes in Emergency.

We had a great one the other night! Young adult female, chief complaint: Bloody nose after "cleaning nostril with finger" (Her words, not mine). And I triaged her. It took everything in me to keep a straight face.

We had another one a few months ago. Middle-aged male, EXTREMELY odd. The conversation went like this.

Me: What brings you to the ED tonight?

Pt: I can't sleep.

Me: How long have you been unable to sleep?

Pt: 20 YEARS!!!

He went to one of our psych rooms that has a camera. He gave a urine for a Utox, and he changed into a gown. We could see him on the camera and he was dancing around in his bright red bikini underpants before he put the gown on. He had a little necklace on that he kept putting up to his nose. Didn't think too much of it until the Utox results came back. + for cocaine.

Um sir, I think we figured out why you can't sleep. And really? Snorting coke in the ED? Not cool.

I think so far one of the most rediculous things I have seen is a patient coming in because he had callous' on both hands.

We had a (very) young adult pt come in because her family said she couldn't stop crying!

Was she admitted to psych? She may have been seriously depressed.

Um sir, I think we figured out why you can't sleep. And really? Snorting coke in the ED? Not cool.

So, what happened to him? Arrested or admitted?

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