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 ?

Specializes in NA, Stepdown, L&D, Trauma ICU, ER.
Came in by ems for chest pain, but he only wanted to see the rest of the football game. His tv was broken by his wife.

actually seems reasonable

So using limited resources (there are only so many ambulances available at any given time) to take you to the hospital for a bogus complaint to watch tv is reasonable now? Interesting concept...:uhoh21:

Most rediculous happened last night: 8 month-old got hold of flour, ate it, and then fell asleep. Parents were worried.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
So using limited resources (there are only so many ambulances available at any given time) to take you to the hospital for a bogus complaint to watch tv is reasonable now? Interesting concept...:uhoh21:

Well I did say his TV was broken by his wife, maybe he feared she would break him.

It really makes me angry to go through the checkout at the grocery with a $100+ grocery that I had to scratch for and the woman in front of me is paying for a crapload of junkfood, seafood, steaks, etc. with foodstamps....and she's wearing Abercrombie/Hollister/American Eagle clothes and jewelry there's no way I can afford.

When I was in college, I knew students who found ways to get food stamps, not because they came from struggling families, but because they had a limited budget and wanted to save their own money for other things, like beer. One guy I knew who did this was a member of a frat that was known for being a haven for young Republicans... and he said he knew lots of guys in his fraternity who did exactly the same thing. I also knew a girl who was planning to transfer to a nursing program who was talking about pulling the same stunt. :( They may not have been rich, but they weren't really poor, either. They'd just found a way to work the system, despite the ethical issues.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

Well Beer is a basic food group isnt it, when in school anyway

A father brought his little girl into the ER one night because she wouldn't take the liquid antibiotic her pediatrician ordered. During the entire visit the father was walking behind this 5 to 6 year old with the medicine bottle and spoon trying to get the little tyke to ingest what she obviously felt was a very disgusting taste. The child was brought into the ER and the ER ordered a different oral medication which the child took without any issue and home they went. :penguin:

Specializes in emergency.
Had another great one this past weekend. Tell me if you ever got this one: middle age female presents to ER with c/o generalized rash (looked like eczema) for 2 weeks (yep - 2 weeks) asked why she didn't see her PMD, she states she "didn't have time". VSS, no acute distress - as she watches me mark her chart "non-urgent" she asked if we were busy. I replied, "Well, it is the weekend and this is a trauma center - we have several high acuity patients so you may have to wait for awhile." (I figure honesty is the best policy - why mislead her?) Well, I'll be darned. As an after thought, she suddenly remembers that she is also having chest pain. Ofcourse that bought her the LAST mon bed and a cardiac work up (which was negative) but hey - she got seen quicker ... never mind that the work up took even more of her time and she complained the whole time. I guess the "chest pain" BS call has unfortunately became public knowledge as a means of getting seen quicker. Geez ...

Yes, I have that all the time, more so when we are busy. They come in with a mild complaint of something totally different, and when they find out it's going to be a long wait, they suddenly remember they are also having chest pain. That is so aggravating! I wonder if they think I'm really that gullible! Fortunately I can r/o many of them by asking them if the pain is sharp or dull pressure, if worse with cough, inspiration, palpation. Many patients who try the CP trick don't actually know the characteristics of cardiac pain versus bronchitis/smoker's cough and I make them wait their turn. Any doubt of course and I get an EKG, I do send several questionable patients back, but there are those you just know are being manipulative.

Specializes in emergency.
Let's see...the kid who's mother brought him for razor burn because his work insisted that he shave daily. I tried to find a new triage category for that one...like a 6- totally stupid complaint - could be seen next year!! We had about 20 people in the waiting room at that time. He had quite the wait.

The young "pregnant" woman who came in with lady partsl bleeding. She couldn't figure out how she got pregnant because she used the patch. I ran a UCG on her and it was negative. She said "I don't understand that. I used all 5 tests in the box and they were all positive." I told her pregnancy tests usually come 2 to a box. You guessed it...she was using an ovulation predictor and was getting her period. That is why people should have to pass a test to be allowed to reproduce.

The malodourous lady partsl discharge x 2 weeks. Yeah, well, when you forget to remove your tampon, that's what happens. PS: I got a great tip from one of our docs. He uses sterile gloves when he goes tampon fishing. That way he just pulls the glove off over the tampon and ties it in a quick knot. Completely contains the smell. Exam gloves are too short.

Then I had the guy who was bitten by a water mocassin. He didn't want to kill the snake so he picked it up with a rake to try to move it to the woods. The snake is now totally p*ssed off and scared so the guy drops the snake. Now the snake is even more mad, so the guy tries to pick the snake up and whammo...he gets envenomated. I told him "If your name is not Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, and you are not getting paid millions of dollars to pick up the snake, leave it alone!"

Thanks for a great thread. I LMAO!

We saw a guy who got bit by a snake near water (in central Indiana-- I don't know of any venomous snakes here) and thought he should bring the snake into the ER for identification. While he was trying to catch the snake it bit him again! :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle The moron brought the snake, which he was finally able to kill, into the ER in a box! Horrors! Of course there was quite a stir among the nurses as the rumor of a snake in the department quickly spread and the most important fact-- is it dead or alive became uncertain. It was one of those surreal times when you feel like you're on a TV episode of ER, like this is so ridiculous it can't actually be happening! Oh btw, the patient survived. :)

Specializes in emergency.
Yes, but there is a serious condition which causes swelling in young boy's memberes that can cause permanent damage...I've treated a case or two in very young infants (

Have never heard of member swelling with chigger bites. Was the bite actually on the member or is member swelling a systemic reaction to chigger bites on other areas of the body? I don't think you overreacted at all. As an ER RN I would have probably done the same thing, at least called the pediatrician who likely would have sent us the ER if it was after hours.

Specializes in ER.
This happened when I was an EMT--not to me, but to someone else I worked with. Got called out late at night, call was "ineffective airway". EMS gets there. Lady is obviously a prostitute. Stated she couldn't breath because she had a pubic hair caught in her throat from last night....

That makes ME want to cough. Bleah.

I don't personally work in the ER but, a fellow nurse told me this story. She was working in the ER when a mother and a very visably pregnant 13yo daughter (yes 13yo) came in, with abdominal pain. The mother wanted to know what was wrong with her daughter and wanted to know if watermelons could really grow in her stomach if she had ate a watermelon seed. The girl gave birth a few hours later.

Specializes in cardiac/telemetry.
we had a guy stick a remote control up his butt. had to get it surgically removed. i mean i guess he had a valid reason to be there after the fact...but why and how?..

Maybe his wife told him "If you change that channel ONE MORE TIME..... (Sorry, I just could not help myself!):lol2:

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