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 ?

Well I work at an Urgent Care but wanted to throw some out there anyway.

- 40 y/o male with chapped lips

- 8 y/o female with "increased heart rate" brought in by mom. Mom felt daughters heart beat through her leg while child was laying on mom's lap and was concerned. Child's HR was 108.

-30 y/o female who started her period a day early.

-I have a random bug bite. What kind of bug was it Doc?

-I have horrible pain from my tooth. The filling fell out 5 months ago. No I never tried to see a dentist.

And then we get a ton of people who have already been seen by multiple physicians/specialists (ie unexplained rash or cough x 1 year) but it's not better so they come in 2 minutes before closing to be seen on a Sunday. They aren't too happy when all we can do is prescribe something and refer them to their PCP or a specialist they've already seen.

Just curious, and maybe you have no idea:

Any of these folks actually pay a co-pay? Or anything for their care?

Definitely have had my fair share of stories, however, this was top 5.

Pt came in for psych issues, but then mentioned he had pain in his testicles. Come to find out the pt was high on meth and masturbated with super glue. Yes. 2nd degree burns on scrotum. And guess who was the lucky nurse that had to remove the dried up glue? That's right. This gal. ;)

Specializes in Cardiac and Emergency Department.

"throat sore for 1 hour". Have you tried anything for it? "I came here". Have you tried to help your sore throat at home prior to coming to the emergency department? "I came here". Exit room, bang head on clip board, and gaze at co-workers in utter amazement.

Specializes in Emergency.
Just curious, and maybe you have no idea:

Any of these folks actually pay a co-pay? Or anything for their care?

Few! The pts insurance is listed on their face sheet and I have to look in order to make sure they stop at the front desk if needed after discharge. It's usually obvious who has Medicaid when they come in for silly things (man with chapped lips who didn't try Vaseline or Chapstick or when a family of 6 all want to be seen for sore throats). We do have MANY self-pays come in for things like sore throat or a refill for BP med and it blows my mind. Our visits start out at $209! 99.9% of the time they didn't even try call the prescribing doc!

*Just my observation regarding Medicaid pts. I of course treat all pts the same regardless of their method of payment. :)

The police had raided a crack house. In the refrigerator they found what they thought was a human fetus. They brought it to the ER. It was an oyster.

This gave me a good laugh. :)

My sepsis is acting up

Shaky arms

And just to add- when did it become ok to allow the large amount of preg tests?? At my facility we supposedly "don't do preg tests," so some nurses try to encourage them to come up with a different CC! Of course we don't want that negative feedback from the patient, heavens no, the CEO won't get as big of a bonus...sigh

How about my scabies is acting up? Not a bad reason to come I guess but when scabies becomes a chronic condition for you....

Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Definitely have had my fair share of stories, however, this was top 5.

Pt came in for psych issues, but then mentioned he had pain in his testicles. Come to find out the pt was high on meth and masturbated with super glue. Yes. 2nd degree burns on scrotum. And guess who was the lucky nurse that had to remove the dried up glue? That's right. This gal. ;)

Oh my sweet Jesus. :woot:

Specializes in Emergency Room.

Neck pain. Standard I know. The only thing was this was in the middle of the night during a pretty nasty blizzard in Chicago. And he had the neck pain for 3 years. And he left 20 minutes after triage...

Maybe it's because I have to pay $100 before I leave the ER but unless something is broken or there is a head injury I go to urgent care first (if can't get in with doc)

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

The PD brings them in, "he's drunk, staggering, its raining and he has no where to go. Doesn't really need to be seen, can he just sit in your lobby?"

From EMS, "he's drunk so the shelter won't take him back tonight, but that's where his pills are. Doesn't need to be seen but his BGL is over 300". So, what do you want me to do with him? If I've taken the triage report of an elevated BGL, don't you think I am required to do something about it?

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.
Oh my sweet Jesus. :woot:

You literally took the EXACT words out of my mouth, lol!!

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Pixie.RN said:
Or a picture of it? LOL

"I took a picture of it on my phone. Wanna see it?" :no: But I'm sure the doctor does. :blink:

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