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 ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

Do not feel bad! I was ER nurse and my son - also 7 or 8 - had extreme abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. He cried when anyone touched his belly so off to the ER we went (it was the Er where I worked). the Doc thought appendicitis and sent us to a surgeon. After another round of tests and before sending us to be admitted the surgeon ordered a strep test. Guess what he had strep. I felt like an idiot!!! Turns out that for some, abdominal pain is an indicator of a significant case of strep.

I thought we were the only ones that did this. Glad to know there are at least two.

i agree :chuckle

Sitting here feeling a bit depressed and this just cheered me up lol
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.

I once read a blurb in a medical journal about a person who actually made it to the operating room; the surgeon removed a normal appendix, and guess what the person really had? Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The abdominal pain was the first symptom, and the rash showed up later and I doubt if anyone would use tetracycline or chloramphenicol for OR prophylaxis.

What if your son had turned out to have both appendicitis AND strep?

There's a reason why it's called medical PRACTICE.

and to think i waited for two days with n&v, severe cramping, and then drove myself to the hospital when my appendix ruptured. i could have gotten a ride in an ambulance. but it was just my appendix and nothing important like an acrylic nail, diaper rash, or um, something in an inappropriate place.

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Do not feel bad! I was ER nurse and my son - also 7 or 8 - had extreme abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. He cried when anyone touched his belly so off to the ER we went (it was the Er where I worked). the Doc thought appendicitis and sent us to a surgeon. After another round of tests and before sending us to be admitted the surgeon ordered a strep test. Guess what he had strep. I felt like an idiot!!! Turns out that for some, abdominal pain is an indicator of a significant case of strep.

I thought we were the only ones that did this. Glad to know there are at least two.

Don't feel bad about it! It happens quite a bit with kids, though. We always test kids with a fever/bellyache/vomiting for strep, even if their throat isn't sore. Many times I've seen kiddos with positive streps with that presentation.

Specializes in ER.

Are their throats inflamed on exam? Or do you screen on every abd pain?

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Are their throats inflamed on exam? Or do you screen on every abd pain?

No, not every abdominal pain, but when they have abd pain AND a fever, then often we look for strep as the source of the fever. Their throats are usually red, but they're not really complaining of a sore throat.

Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

Pt. presents to sign in for the Emergency Deparment.

Pt. offers complaint

"I think my hand is broken" How did this happen? "I punched a wall" :rolleyes: Hmmm!

Pt. presents to the Emergency Deparment

Pt. offers complaint

"I've had a broken tooth for 3 years"

Would like to reply, it's 0300 in the morning, why is this a problem now?

25 YO W/F presents to the emergency department via BLS

Pt. offers complaint

"My boyfriend and I were messing around, now my Cell Phone is inside me!"

Dr. states "What's the number, we'll call and see if it's still on" :eek: I couldn't believe my ears, the rest of the staff couldn't stop laughing for days!!!! :yeah:

Pt. presents to sign in for the Emergency Deparment.

25 YO W/F presents to the emergency department via BLS

Pt. offers complaint

"My boyfriend and I were messing around, now my Cell Phone is inside me!"

Dr. states "What's the number, we'll call and see if it's still on" :eek: I couldn't believe my ears, the rest of the staff couldn't stop laughing for days!!!! :yeah:

As a student I used to think this stuff was urban legend! How innocent was I?

Specializes in Retired OR nurse/Tissue bank technician.

When I was a student (early 90s) we took a 10 year old to the OR with suspected appendicitis. Labs were in with elevated white count and she had the rebound tenderness, so off she went to be relieved of her appendix.

Next day the pathology came back-normal appendix. I'm wondering now if she had strep instead.

Woman came in with a condom "lost"..but the topper was a tv remote fully "lost" in the...hmm...lower gi tract! Surgeon had to be called out.

Specializes in LTC, SNF, PSYCH, MEDSURG, MR/DD.

i was the nurse on duty at a ltc facility. one of my staff was filing papers. she scratched her finger on the staple. one drop blood.

she filled out incident report, went to the er and called off for the next 2 days.

true story, i am still shaking my head........

+ Join the Discussion