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 ?

[jujuseah, RN]

This woman called an ambulance to send her to the ER because... (wait for it)... ..... a cat scratched her when she was walking her dog. It wasn't even bad.

[BanoraWhite]

I once went to the ER for a toothache :sofahider

I had pain in my tooth all day, took paracetamol, codeine, ibuprofen, tried toothache drops, oil of cloves, garlic - you name it. Rang around all the dentists in my area all day but no one would take me for at least a week.

By that night my whole face had swollen and I was almost passing out as the pain had gotten unbearable. I went to the local ER where I was told that they "weren't a dentist" and given another paracetamol and sent home.

I wound up in the dental hospital only a few hours later where I collapsed and had a code blue called on me

I still feel dumb about going to the ER, I think they thought I was there to get my tooth taken out, when I just wanted a stronger pain killer to get me through the night !! I'm worried I'll turn up in this thread as "the girl that turned up in the middle of the night for a toothache !" Lol....

[JBudd, MSN]

I still feel dumb about going to the ER, I think they thought I was there to get my tooth taken out, when I just wanted a stronger pain killer to get me through the night !! I'm worried I'll turn up in this thread as "the girl that turned up in the middle of the night for a toothache !" Lol....

Um no, because you tried many things including finding a dentist in the community. We are supposed to be about pain control, and the fact that your face was swelling should have been addressed (can anyone say airway?).

no, you aren't the one we talk about, :redpinkhe

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

my whole face had swollen

That means get to the ER! Your face swelling is dangerously close to losing your airway! There is a huge difference between tooth pain associated with facial edema and "aww crap I shouldn't have eaten that candy apple."

One time I was bitten by a horsefly.

I always experience greater than normal swelling with those bites (I live in a wetlands area, so I've had several) but this one was on my right cheek. The entire right half of my face was swollen, including my eyelids and one of my nostrils.

But, being the nurse that I am, I refused to have my mom take me to the hospital and treated myself at home with ice, advil and Benadryl. Thank goodness I ended up with no complications. Looking back, I probably should have been loaded with SoluMedrol at least! I was younger and dumber then. (It was three months ago...)

[tvccrn, ASN, RN]

bookmarking

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

A 20-something female pt: "I need a mammogram."

[tvccrn, ASN, RN]

This may not seem ridiculous - but I think it is ridiculous to have a person

who has smoked 27 years, been diagnosed with emphysema and then come in and say: "I can't breathe".

Or a person who weighs 450 pounds come in and say: "I can't breathe when you lay me on my back".

Heelllloooo?????

My ex-MIL got to where she would not call me at home when she was SOB.

She used to call, I could hear she was have a very hard time breathing, yet she would say, "Hold on" and I could clearly tell she was lighting up a cigarette. She would exhale into the phone and go back to complaining.

After the first few times of telling her to put out the cigarette and fire up her nebulizer machine, I got to where I would tell her that if she wasn't going to listen to my advice, then what she should do is to light up another cigarette and wait until her sats were so bad she passed out.

[tvccrn, ASN, RN]

Sometimes this is the perfect opportunity to start some patient teaching. Frequently these people are told to NEVER start an antibiotic before consulting with the healthcare system, be it a physician or a clinic. They frequently interpret that to mean ANY med.

We need to look at ourselves before we decide on being judgemental.

I have rarely seen a parent who will intentionally harm their child.

I know this is an old (very old) reply to this thread, but I have to ask how a person would start an ANTIBIOTIC before consulting with the healthcare system. Are there antibiotics sold OTC in other states?

[JBudd, MSN]

I know this is an old (very old) reply to this thread, but I have to ask how a person would start an ANTIBIOTIC before consulting with the healthcare system. Are there antibiotics sold OTC in other states?

Lots of folks come in, saying they have taken someone else's (or even their own) leftover antibiotics from a previous problem. "There were just a few left, so I thought I should start taking them" "I knew you would give me antibiotics, so I just got started early". Lots of folks along the Southern border just cross into Mexico and buy 100 count bottles of stuff.

One fellow I know of, kept asking my friend to bring him back large bottles of Ampicillin, he just took it daily to keep himself safe. Finally convinced my friend to STOP bringing it back to him. At least I think I did, if he still does he is careful not to let me know of it.

[jujuseah, RN]

I know this is an old (very old) reply to this thread, but I have to ask how a person would start an ANTIBIOTIC before consulting with the healthcare system. Are there antibiotics sold OTC in other states?

Yes there are alot of countries that sells ANTIBIOTICS OTC! It is very COOL. to see that they have SO MANY MEDICATIONS OVER OTC!

[Anthonyrnbsn, BSN, RN]

There's so many,but the most recent was during hurricane Irene,on long island. The person came in because they had decreased "taste" for the past 3 weeks and decided 10 pm during a hurricane was the time to come. WTH. Seriously. And OF COURSE they wanted a turkey sandwich before they left. Why do some people exist?

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

Why do some people exist?

So you can get paid to help them.