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 ?

We often joke that our ED should be renamed 'The department of tea and sandwiches'. Our folks have such co-morbidities that they are assured of getting a bed and treatment when they are hungry and feel the need for a bed.

Specializes in Med/Surg/Pedi/Tele.

You won't believe this one.. a 14 y/o with a 2 liter coke bottle up his rectum. Required surgery to remove. :no:

mom brings kid in w/fever to 104....kid vomiting from having to SWALLOW the suppository that mom gave him.........

same vein........different mom shoving suppositories up the kid's orifice WITHOUT REMOVING THE FOIL!!!!!!

can't make this sh*t up!

gets better and better.......

--dentures in the rectum.......surgery, temp colostomy

--GULDENS spicy brown mustard jar up the, you guessed it,.....another surgery consult

--a harmonica, assorted bottles, jars, and i just now remembered TIC TACS!!!

I COULD GO ON AND ON..............

Specializes in Hospice, ER.
We often joke that our ED should be renamed 'The department of tea and sandwiches'. Our folks have such co-morbidities that they are assured of getting a bed and treatment when they are hungry and feel the need for a bed.

We go thru turkey sandwiches like they were free...oh wait, they are free! Also lots of cheap ginger ale. We actually had a mom and two kids, one kid was the pt, clean out the fridge in our area. We refused to restock it and got stuff for other pts from other areas. Otherwise, they would have cleaned it out again. They were pretty well fed to begin with.

Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
Now why in the world would you even think that it would be silly to go to the ER for that? I had a kidney stone years ago. It was probably the worst pain I ever felt in my life!

Kidney stones COULD become an emergency. I've seen many end up in kidney failure. Very, very much an emergency.

Specializes in Emergency.

"Hey, doctor. I am here because I missed work today and need a work excuse." This pt didn't even bother dreaming up an imaginary illness. Someone obviously is on medicare.

"Hey, doctor. I am here because I missed work today and need a work excuse." This pt didn't even bother dreaming up an imaginary illness. Someone obviously is on medicare.

sorry maybe i missed something, why would they obviously be on medicare?

sorry maybe i missed something, why would they obviously be on medicare?

I think they meant Medicaid.

Because someone who would do that obviously isn't paying for it.

:yawn:

I think they meant Medicaid.

Because someone who would do that obviously isn't paying for it.

:yawn:

so only people who are on medicaid take days off from work and get BS drs notes?

Specializes in Women's health & post-partum.
so only people who are on medicaid take days off from work and get BS drs notes?

No, only when they go to the ER for the note. They won't be paying for the visit--medicaid (ie, taxpayers) will be paying for it.

Specializes in Labor and Delivery, Orthopedic.

About two years ago, I brought my son to the ER. He had a rather sudden onset of abdominal pain. Bad enough to make him cry. He was 7 at the time so he was old enough not cry at every little thing. He wasn't super specific but when I asked the right questions he indicated that he had abdominal pain, nausea and a low grade fever. So I'm thinking appendicitis. I take him in and they do blood work which shows his WBC's are slightly elevated. So the doctor decides to do an abdominal ultrasound. The u/s is inconclusive - shows some inflammation but nothing obvious. So we are getting ready to do a CT scan when the nurse convinces the doc to do a strep test just to be sure.

Sure enough - it is strep. I can't believe how silly I felt. Here I am, an RN, and I brought my son to the ER for strep throat! To add insult to injury our insurance plan was a high deductible plan so when all was said and done we paid over 1K to find out he had strep! At least we paid right? :) As stupid as I felt, I keep in mind that it was NOT a typical presentation of strep, and he had the doctor fooled too.

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