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 ?

I have one silly one. My 18month (At the time) old daughter managed to get a popcorn kernal stuck in her forehead. Yes being a paranoid mama (aka seeing blood pouring out of my baby's head) I rushed her to the ER where she was seen immediately and got 3 stitches and a sucker.

I also have a serious one which I am still mad abot. About a month ago I was getting ready to take my kids to meet up with my husband and get some dinner All of a sudden I was in one of the worst pains I have ever been in. I couldn't breath, I couldn't move and I got off the road and waited for my husband to come get me because the pain was shooting through my chest. It felt like I was being peirced by something. He took me to the ER and After waiting 3 hours, Yes I said 3 hours I left without being seen thinking If I am not dead by now I will be fine with some time. I still do not know what caused the pain but I went through it for 4 days and hope I never have to go through it again

I have one silly one. My 18month (At the time) old daughter managed to get a popcorn kernal stuck in her forehead. Yes being a paranoid mama (aka seeing blood pouring out of my baby's head) I rushed her to the ER where she was seen immediately and got 3 stitches and a sucker.

I also have a serious one which I am still mad abot. About a month ago I was getting ready to take my kids to meet up with my husband and get some dinner All of a sudden I was in one of the worst pains I have ever been in. I couldn't breath, I couldn't move and I got off the road and waited for my husband to come get me because the pain was shooting through my chest. It felt like I was being peirced by something. He took me to the ER and After waiting 3 hours, Yes I said 3 hours I left without being seen thinking If I am not dead by now I will be fine with some time. I still do not know what caused the pain but I went through it for 4 days and hope I never have to go through it again

You mean you haven't gone to get a "follow" up? :eek: I suggest you go to your PCP ASAP. It may be something that will pop back up and this time won't go away and end up being something worse than you imagined. Then again it could be nothing. But go anyways. Now.

You mean you haven't gone to get a "follow" up? :eek: I suggest you go to your PCP ASAP. It may be something that will pop back up and this time won't go away and end up being something worse than you imagined. Then again it could be nothing. But go anyways. Now.

I went to my PCP and after having me get a chest xray which came back clear he said it was a pinched nerve. I have had pinched nerves before and none ever felt like that one. I am thankful it wasn't more serious.

O/T Pathetic as it may sound around here it is no wonder people go to the ER rather than their PCP. I have a minimum of a 2 hour wait when I go to my PCP and there are 3 Drs there they take visitors from pharmaceutical companies inbetween patients :rolleyes: Unfortunately that was the only place my insurance covered. I recently changed carriers so I am hoping for someplace better.

guardian of 13, 14 yr old female brings said child in for "virginity check" - "Isn't there a test you can do?" Puh-leeze! :stone

mom brings 12 year old kid in on a school night at 1am for ingrown toenail x1 month - saw the same kid & mom few nights ago with exact same problem on other foot - this time they checked in a little earlier..midnight :confused:

EMS brings in mom, dad, baby sibling & 2 year old patient because of a "laceration to foot" - examined the kid, teeny superficial scratch on toe - when asked why EMS was called, dad replied "well I AM a diabetic, we's just being careful" - and of course they had no ride home, no money, etc., etc. :banghead:

What really makes me mad is the lack of parenting education these parents get from their pediatricans/PCPs. It's OK for your kid to run a fever for a few hours; it's OK for them to cry a lot that day, for them to throw up once in a while. I spend half of my time educating all I can, at least on those who will listen.

You all are right: stupid people = endless ER job security.

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.

SICK AND WRONG! :rotfl:

Specializes in Tele, Home Health, MICU, CTICU, LTC.

During my EMS days I took a patient to the ER who had supposedly swallowed a small piece of a pork chop bone. She wasn't even sure if she had or not. No coughing, respiratory distress, or abdominal pain. When she got to the ER she asked for:

A pepsi, tapioca pudding, and a pap smear. I got a good laugh out of that one.

When she got to the ER she asked for:

A pepsi, tapioca pudding, and a pap smear. I got a good laugh out of that one.

:rotfl: In what order?? :rotfl:

You throw a LIVE snake into a freezer. That's mean! :stone

Here in Australia you HAVE to bring it in - in any condition you can. If they are live we throw them in a deep freezer until a herpetologist can correctly ID the snake. See a LOT of our snakes can only be accurately Id'd if you do a scale count including examining the anal scale - now I don't know about you but that is a closer relationship than I want to have with a live venomous snake:coollook:
Specializes in NICU.
You throw a LIVE snake into a freezer. That's mean! :stone

From what I understand it just makes them go to sleep. They're fine when they warm up.

One of our many frequent fliers came in one day (via EMS of course), hopped off the stretcher, and said, "I'm okay. I just needed a ride to the hospital for my doctor's appointment."

I'm tellin' ya, I worked ER as a corpsman 30 years ago, and it's like deja vu all over again hearing these stories--people using the ER as a convenience clinic, that is, because to call during the daytime and get an appointment in the appropriate clinic would disrupt their day.

But, hearing how you have to feed people nowadays--nope, I would never, ever do that. Ever. I don't care if they are homeless and hungry--there are other resources available. Especially when they manage to be able to afford cigarettes to go out in the ambulance bay area and smoke while hollering for their meal and snack trays and sodas. Hell with 'em, I'd say.

I feel like I am a burnt-out ER nurse just from READING these posts! I don't know how you folks put up with the nonsense! I'd go postal!

The first words out of half of patients with abdominal pain have to be, "Can I have something to eat?" And of course the hospital is all about patient satisfaction, so now we have a variety of meal trays delivered 3 times a day. Some of these patients even have the nerve to call dietary and order a special tray if they don't like what we have. We moved into a new ER about 2 years ago. All the rooms have TVs and phones. It's hard as hell to get some of these people to leave.

This is a bit off-topic, but what about family members who come and hang out with Mom or whoever is being tx'd, then ask the dr. for a work excuse for themselves ? Duh.

I'm so glad you said that. That drives me absolutely crazy. Forunately, our computer discharge system will only allow notes for the patient.

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