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

Specialties Emergency Nursing Q/A

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 ER.
Patients will write something lengthy for their CC on the sign in form. Our registration clerks will now list their CC on the computerized board as "multiple complaints" or "generalized issues." Drives me nuts.

I think they should just shorten it to "Issues" :-)

Specializes in ER.
As a matter of fact, in the wee hours of Monday morning, I woke up with severe pain on my left side front and back and radiating down my groin. I also had alot of pressure to urinate but when I tried could only void a very small amount. Also had vomiting and nausea.

Well, the pain would not subside. Any Tylenol I tried to take for it was vomited up.

Finally after 3 hours of this, I dragged my aching body to the car and drove down to the ER at 4:30 in the morning. I could not understand what could be causing the pain and was, understandably, afraid.

There was blood in my urine and they did a catscan, but the nurses had already figured out I had a kidney stone ("doing the kidney stone dance").

They put an IV in me for fluid and pain medicine and when I was awake enough let me go home with vicodin and suppositories for nausea and vomiting. Doc instructed me to see a urologist in the next couple days.

I hope the ER staff didn't think me coming down with a KS was silly. I live alone and just have myself to depend on. They sure did help me out - the pain was unbearable.

Just a little anecdotal story.

Kidney stone patients are legit. I would never get mad at a patient for showing up in horrible pain with blood in their urine and uncontrolled nausea and vomiting. If they didn't follow up then I would be disappointed. But geez... kidney stones suck! And N and V suck and severe pee pee pain really sucks!

Hope it doesn't happen again to you !

Specializes in ER.

We got a recent pt who came in by ambulance. She was an older woman, lived with her adult son, apparently quite the control freak. He didn't come home at night, he was likely on a hot date. Mom was mad, so to teach him a lesson, she called the ambulance so that she wouldn't be there when he finally arrived home.

Just recently we had a patient come into our ED with complaints of toe pain.... the toe had been hurting for 2 years!! :sarcastic:

Specializes in LTC, Correctional Nursing.

Oh my goodness!!! I just thought that working in corrections in a mental health dorm was bad! I don't work the ER but I didn't see a comment regarding anyone shoving anything up in their member hole... we have inmates do that so they can come to the hospital and have pretty nurses give them good drugs. They get mad when they don't get anything but an outpatient surgery and expedited back to the prison infirmary when "Big Buck, RN" gives you some Ibuprofen for your discomfort.

I really enjoy reading this thread though.. I felt the need to say something beings I have read over 100 pages of rip roaring laughs! Your poor ER nurses... much respect to you. (BTW, when I do go to the ER, I am the patient one that understands that you have so many idiots to deal with, I ask for nothing, and leave you to do your job and I thank you on the way out and smile at you. Because I know that's a rarity in the ER.)

We recently had a patient who arrived via ambulance. He had called 911 because he vomited ONE time. He said he was afraid he had eaten bad peanut butter. This perfectly healthy man in his late 20's then needed his wife and mother there for support.

This was so outrageous I couldn't let it fall into the depths of oblivion and get consumed by this thread and thus, created a new one. Interesting... to say the least.
Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
We recently had a patient who arrived via ambulance. He had called 911 because he vomited ONE time. He said he was afraid he had eaten bad peanut butter. This perfectly healthy man in his late 20's then needed his wife and mother there for support.

Surely you're joking!! :)

I'm wondering how a little weenie like that got married! Ack!

Anne, RNC

Specializes in Emergency Department.
This was so outrageous I couldn't let it fall into the depths of oblivion and get consumed by this thread and thus, created a new one. Interesting... to say the least.

...just when you thought you had seen it all....wow.

You could kindly hint to the person that they're probably not getting a Dilaudid & a script for Norco for their CC, and that their CC isn't really an emergency, and that there's a 3 hr wait time. Be like "choice is yours"...

Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

We would triage them a five (least urgent), which may mean they get seen within 6 hours. We would also suggest if they are unhappy with that weight time that they could visit the after hours GP

OK - dumb question - I understand that you can't refuse to treat someone in the emergency room. Can you refuse to see an obvious non-emergency like the hangnail?
Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
A friend of a friend who was a paramedic got called out to a large apartment block as someone was hearing moaning from inside an apartment. It turned out that the resident had an orange stuck where no orange should ever go. The ambo's had to keep going outside beccause they were struggling to keep a straight face

OUCH!!

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