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 ?

jyoung1950 said:
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.

I would say kidney stones is a valid reason for visiting the ER. I had them myself..it is excruciating pain.

I am not a nurse (planning on school in 2006) but I have to explain stuff from a patients side... If you have no medical background, sometimes you worry about something and feel it is best to err on the safe side by going in to the ER. A few years ago I had a terrible rash on my bum and legs. Went to the ER at 9pm because the evening clinic was full and wouldn't take me- I was only 20 and my parents were away, up until then I usually would just ask my mom what to do.

Well I got there and I knew they were PO'ed at me for coming in for just that- but I was miserable!!! I didn't know what to do for it. They first told me just take benedryl, but then one of the nurses suggested I have some bloodwork- after waiting a few hours, she came and told me I actually had mono and that was the cause of my rash. I never complained about how tired I had been recently- I figured it was just me. I was so close to being fired from my job because I was so exhausted at work I couldn't do my job properly.

Because of that nurse taking time with me, I found out what was really wrong with me, got time off work, and finally started to feel better And- I got to keep my job! Did my boss ever feel guilty for having had been so nasty to me in the recent weeks.

Granted some of these stories truly are ridiculous, but there are some patients who just don't know what is wrong with them and even if it seems silly to you- they might be really worried. They don't have the medical background and experience you do as nurses. Try to remember that when you are mad at a patient for coming in with a dumb reason. Well- unless it is a piece of gum stuck in someones hair!! lol

Specializes in ER.
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I'm sorry to hear you had to go the ER for a UTI. I count myself lucky that all I have to do is call the doctor on call that night and she/he calls in a script with a promise to appear in the next few days to confirm. UTIs are nothing to balk at and you did the right thing going in. They can really make you sick and go into your kidneys as you are probably aware of ?

I totally agree with you - I am so fortunate to work with doctors in the ER who will write a script for their nurses/NA's/registration staff for "minor" things like UTIs, ear infxns, etc. without having to go through the whole process. Just a little story about my FIRST experience with a UTI. I was 18 and had never had a UTI before, so when it started to burn when I peed, I thought it was just some irritation that would go away. Three or four days later, I wanted to just sit on the toilet all day because I constantly felt I had to pee, and it felt like I was peeing out burning needles. I was embarrassed to tell my mom, but eventually I told her I thought something was wrong with me. Thank goodness she knew I had a UTI and needed abx, and even though it was christmas eve, she took me to an urgent care center to get one. Unfortunately (and this one was my fault, but it goes to show what not taking the meds you need can do) we were going out of town for christmas, and I forgot to take the abx with me; so after only two doses, I missed two days of it, but I didn't think it would be a problem. However, it turned out to be... when I got home and resumed the abx, I had the lovely side effect that a lot of abx give me, a yeast infxn. Then, to top it off, I spiked a fever and developed abd pain and couldn't pee for the life of me, though I wanted to constantly. By New Year's Eve, after trying a new abx (Rocephin, which I am evidently allergic to - go figure) my parents took me to ER because I couldn't get out of bed, had cold chills and a temp of 104, and was doubled over in pain. Well, of course since I wasn't n/v and dehydrated, and it was New Year's Eve (read drunk trauma) night, I had to wait some 2-4 hours, and when they finally saw me, my abd pain was so bad they were about to ship me to OR for appy - until they saw the CT and I ended up having such a severe and advanced case of pyelo that I spent 5 days on peds with an IV of demerol to control the pain and a neuro workup because the infx caused me to hallucinate and have such severe headaches they thought I had meningitis. Not that I remember any of it, but my mom says I started telling everyone I loved them, and to kiss my family who wasn't there with me because I thought I was about to die. I got better but missed all my midterm exams, felt like I had been run over by a mac truck for about a month, and learned a valuable lesson - when you feel a burning and need to pee all the time, get an abx NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!! Don't figure it will go away :rolleyes: - instead it will go way up into your body where you never want it to go! And take your abx (unless they make it hard for you to breathe and you get itchy hives all over your body so bad you make your skin bleed from scratching :angryfire d*** that rocephin!

Kelly_the_Great said:
LOL, nursemelly! As extreme as that story sounds, I wonder how many new moms have considered it??? I know there were times if I'd had about an ounce less patience, I probably would have! ?

I was tempted to do it last night for my four year old and my third child! She cried for almost an hour before she finally fell asleep. She got in trouble and was sent to bed. She was perfectly happy this morning.

It happened this weekend! I have always heard these stories that someone "lost" something in an orifice...I just thought it happened once or twice, and the story kept getting around... until SATURDAY

70 year old male, in the ER with a POTATO in his rectum!

HIS story: He was rubbing the potato with "salve" (lotion?/topical med?) on his butt, and he slipped and fell in the bathtub, and the potato went right up there. He came to the ER about 8PM, it had been there since 12PM, and he couldn't get it out himself.

Well, neither could the ER doc. He went to the OR !!!!!

CRAZY!!!

:uhoh3:

The hangnail is probably one of the best I've heard. We've had a blister on the heel (about the size smaller than a dime) and also someone whe started sneezing alot.

I cannot believe someone called the hospital because there cat was giving birth. ?

The momma cat takes care of them, trust me I have 9 cats right now. Anyone want a kitty? 

laurakoko said:
It happened this weekend! I have always heard these stories that someone "lost" something in an orifice...I just thought it happened once or twice, and the story kept getting around... until Saturday

70 year old male, in the ER with a POTATO in his rectum!

HIS story: He was rubbing the potato with "salve" (lotion?/topical med?) on his butt, and he slipped and fell in the bathtub, and the potato went right up there. He came to the ER about 8PM, it had been there since 12PM, and he couldn't get it out himself.

Well, neither could the ER doc. He went to the OR !!!

CRAZY!

:uhoh3:

Oh yeah, it's truly AMAZING what objects people "fall on." We had a pt with part of a broom handle wedged where the sun don't shine and he adamantly insisted that he FELL on it! I HATE it when that happens! :rotfl:

Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

Chad--I did that last summer--picked up a friendly stray I knew was prego, took it to the vets for a tune-up and maintenance till the blessed event, brought her and 5 kittens home. Cat-in-residence was less than happy about it. :rolleyes:

Four kittens got adopted, Mama went to Humane Society and got adopted, kept one. He and former "queen" of the house get along marginally at best--there's a lot of hissing @ our house!

I can't wait till he's older and out of the adolescent cat phase--he's into everything!

Hate to say it, but I went to the ER for a UTI once. I wouldn't call a UTI an emergency, however I had NEVER had one, knew what it was, and was in EXTREME pain and unable to urinate.

I originally called a local physician and the secretary was very rude to me b/c I had no insurance and told me she didn't have an appt open for two weeks...talked to a nurse and she was even worse. By the time I got off the phone with them it was late. No urgent care centers nearby...

I drank about a gallon of cranberry juice (per my grandma's orders), which increased my urge to pee, but not my ability, and made the pain worse.

Finally, I couldn't STAND IT...I was in major pain. So I had my sister drive me to the hospital, as I was doubled over in the passenger seat (and I have a high pain tolerance!) I walked right in and told the ER nurses that I had a UTI. They seemed a little perturbed to say the least, made me wait forever, then actually lost the urine specimen that I so painfully spent 20 minutes trying to squeeze out!

Got the bill a month later! $600. It makes me sick...I didn't want to go to the ER, but I felt like I had no other options. Luckily, there were not many people waiting, and no serious conditions while I was there.

Anyway.....just had to vent a little.... :angryfire

Oh no, that is absolutely awful! I was in a similar situation but had a much better experience. I am an American in Canada and did not have the health insurance here. I had UTIs before, but this one was probably the worst.

It was 3am and I knew exactly what was wrong with me. It was so painful I couldn't stand it, so I didn't even wake hubby up. Drove myself to the ER, walked in and told the triage nurse I was sure I had a bladder infection. My urine sample of a few drops was blood red. They had me in and out in an hour! It was great. I got the pill that turns your pee orange (which is all I wanted at the time.. they don't sell it OTC in Canada!) and antibiotics and off I was back at home to sleep.

I was very fortunate to be in, treated and back home within an hour. IMO that is something that warrants and ER visit especially if it's late at night and you can't get relief until the morning.

edit: I meant to add I was only charged $100 for the whole thing! I was so scared it was going to be a huge bill.

Specializes in Tele, Infectious Disease, OHN.

Definately the guy who came in at 11:30 on a Friday night for weight loss..

and do 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 :)

Chad--I did that last summer--picked up a friendly stray I knew was prego, took it to the vets for a tune-up and maintenance till the blessed event, brought her and 5 kittens home. Cat-in-residence was less than happy about it. :rolleyes:

Four kittens got adopted, Mama went to Humane Society and got adopted, kept one. He and former "queen" of the house get along marginally at best--there's a lot of hissing @ our house!

I can't wait till he's older and out of the adolescent cat phase--he's into everything!

You guys are awesome!!!!! I, too, am an animal lover---have 5 cats of my own and "take care" of another one who has apparently been abandoned (or perhaps his owner died--he seems like an "old lady's" cat the way he acts)--I found him nearly dead of a bad URI in my garden last winter, brought him in and nursed him back to health with Vicks and a vaporizer, and force fed him pureed meat and tuna with plenty of water. Our "resident" cats still don't like him--they are incredibly jealous--but he is such a mellow cat. We haven't even named him--just call him "that one fellow" or "big boy." (He is gigantic, which makes me think that an old lady had him and fed him very, very well--too well.)

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