Doctors and nurses see hundreds of patients every single week, and most appointments eventually fade from memory. But every now and then, a patient comes along who breaks the pattern.
For example, a doctor said he will never forget the 96-year-old man who still hits the gym multiple days a week and jumps rope like a teenager. A nurse recalled helping a hospitalized woman who acted like the fashion police, refusing to rest until her outfit was fixed and properly accessorized.
These and many other patient interactions were recently shared online, proving that it isn’t always complex medical cases that stay with medical professionals. Sometimes, it’s the funny, bizarre, and inspiring moments as well.
Scroll through to read some of the best anecdotes that show there is so much more to doctor-patient relationships.
#21
Patient was a plump, rosy-cheeked older woman with snowy white hair. Very sweet, very proper. She didn't understand what I meant by a 'bed bath' so I explained I would get a basin of soapy water and some wash cloths. She twinkled her eyes at me, patted my hand and said "Oh! You mean a w***e's bath!".
8points
Humor also acts as an essential psychological shield for healthcare workers who face intense stress every single day. Doctors and nurses routinely handle high-stakes medical crises and traumatizing situations that put them at risk for PTSD and severe burnout.
Studies on high-stress professions — including research on firefighters — show that humor serves as a crucial emotional buffer between heavy traumatic stressors and job burnout. In the high-pressure world of healthcare, finding moments of levity is a vital survival tool.
#22
Taking care of a man just after surgery to have both testes removed for cancer. He looked up at me, grinned and said "Well? Did the surgeon give me two brass ones like I asked?".
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8points
#23
Lab here. I was drawing blood from a passed out drunk guy. A seasoned nurse was showing a new nurse how to put in a catheter. She got to the part where she was supposed to insert the catheter. She told the new nurse to grab the p***s “like you’re choking a chicken “. And proceeded to demonstrate. The new nurse looked horrified. I lost it and laughed so hard I cried. Right at the bedside.
8points
When healthcare workers open up about their favorite patient memories, so many of those stories revolve around funny incidents, witty remarks, and absurd hospital moments.
Whether it is an elderly patient cracking a joke before surgery or a stubborn fashionista refusing to rest without her cheetah-print blouse, these lighthearted interactions cut through the dark days. They give doctors and nurses the exact dose of joy they need to keep showing up and caring for others.
#24
When I was in school for EEG, I was doing clinical hours at the local hospital. Just routine testing, all ages. We had a patient come in for her EEG and she was just so hecking psyched to be a part of something, it was truly enchanting. She was maybe like 9 at the most and she was super small and really charming. Anyway, we are running the test and we get to the photic stimulation (strobe light) part of the test. Right at 15hz, her EEG tracing just goes wild with seizure activity. Myself and the tech overseeing me leaned over to look into the room to see if the tech overseeing her needed any help with this apparently crazy seizure that this girl is now having. Nope, she’s grinning ear to ear about the light. It goes up to 18hz and the seizure activity increases, so the tech next to me starts doing other tests. She asks the little girl to say “cat” and the girl just blurts out CAT! I’m documenting, the tech asks her to say “dog”. This girl just starts laughing so wildly hard and barks out DOG! Now we are all laughing, I’m documenting, she’s…still neurologically seizing, but she was just so charming and hilarious. It genuinely didn’t seem like a gelastic seizure either. Girly was just really enjoying the rave party portion of her otherwise boring brain test. Never did get to hear her test results in terms of the doctor’s impression, but I’ve only seen a few tracings with just BIG generalized seizure activity and that was one of them, and she was conscious and following instructions.
8points
#25
I wasn't present for this one and it's not his explanation that was hilarious but it needs to be shared all the same.
So when a friend of mine who is also a nurse was working in an emergency department, a patient came in after having suffered a sub arachnoid haemorrhage (brain bleed) mid coitus. His wife was not present at the time...
They call his wife to let her know where he is. She's in the room when the doctor asks what he was doing when it happened. I believe the wife actually had to be restrained.
So when a friend of mine who is also a nurse was working in an emergency department, a patient came in after having suffered a sub arachnoid haemorrhage (brain bleed) mid coitus. His wife was not present at the time...
They call his wife to let her know where he is. She's in the room when the doctor asks what he was doing when it happened. I believe the wife actually had to be restrained.
8points
#26
Intern in the cardiac ICU. Was caring for an elderly guy for a week or two with horrible AS and heart failure, would likely d*e that admit. All he wanted was a Coors light before he d**d. Next AM before rounds brought him and his son a 6 pack to enjoy together. He passed a few days later. Prob best medicine I did all year.
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8points
#27
We had a man come in, brought in by ambulance. He was going through DT's (alcohol withdrawal). He was hallucinating heavily. However, we were all d***g laughing because he hallucinated an entire bbq. He was talking to people (hallucinations), laughing, drinking, grilling. He was describing the food. We had a great time listening to him laugh and enjoy this fictional bbq.
7points
#28
I work in mental health and I told this sweet older woman she had something on her chin and that I was going to wipe it off. She looked horrified and asked, “Is it c*m?” I couldn’t breathe for a good thirty seconds I was laughing so hard.
7points
#29
ER and Trauma nurse here.
Had a drunk, rowdy fellow come in by EMS with a laceration that had nearly severed his a*s cheek in half. The wound was 2-3 inches deep at it's worst. He explained that "I was b*****g my super hot wife and I decided to try a wrestling move on her" (that is a real quote).
Apparently, he picked her up with the intention of body-slamming her onto the bed, but he was so drunk he toppled backwards... onto and then through a glass table near the bed. The doctors removed several extremely large shards of glass from his a*s during the closure process. He requested that I take pictures of the process with his phone, I was happy to oblige.
Turns out he was from out-of-town, the furniture was in a swanky hotel, and he had quite a long flight home the next day. I still wonder if/how he managed tolerate the airplane seats with 40 sutures in a*s.
Had a drunk, rowdy fellow come in by EMS with a laceration that had nearly severed his a*s cheek in half. The wound was 2-3 inches deep at it's worst. He explained that "I was b*****g my super hot wife and I decided to try a wrestling move on her" (that is a real quote).
Apparently, he picked her up with the intention of body-slamming her onto the bed, but he was so drunk he toppled backwards... onto and then through a glass table near the bed. The doctors removed several extremely large shards of glass from his a*s during the closure process. He requested that I take pictures of the process with his phone, I was happy to oblige.
Turns out he was from out-of-town, the furniture was in a swanky hotel, and he had quite a long flight home the next day. I still wonder if/how he managed tolerate the airplane seats with 40 sutures in a*s.
7points
#30
Severely demented guy with that perpetual “oh s**t” look on his face in the VA just wanted a god d**n radio to listen to music. No one would get him one. I figured out where I could get him one in the hospital and some lady dropped one off in a couple hours. He was sleeping peacefully like a baby (the first time in the 3 days since his admission) within 10 minutes of getting the radio.
The woman who was in my office crying because she works on a farm was just getting overwhelmed with rearing the animals that particular season. She’s been on the same SSRI same dose for 35 years and her normal PCP wouldn’t change the dose. I switched to a different one at a modest dose and she was a ray a sunshine the next time I saw her.
There’s little moments like this all the time. I’ve found it normally doesn’t take anything special. Most of the time just listen and your patients will tell you exactly what they want.
The woman who was in my office crying because she works on a farm was just getting overwhelmed with rearing the animals that particular season. She’s been on the same SSRI same dose for 35 years and her normal PCP wouldn’t change the dose. I switched to a different one at a modest dose and she was a ray a sunshine the next time I saw her.
There’s little moments like this all the time. I’ve found it normally doesn’t take anything special. Most of the time just listen and your patients will tell you exactly what they want.
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7points
#31
My husband is a pediatric hospitalist. His story not mine. He had a patient that liked to pretend she was a mermaid. When he first came in she made him leave so she could put her mermaid tail on and on the room board she had her mermaid name.
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6points
#32
I don’t know if this is my favorite story, but I did find it amusing. I worked in a psych hospital. We had team meetings for all the patients: psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses (me). The team got very concerned because when a patient said his favorite hobby was RPGs, they thought he meant the weapon not the games. Still amuses me to this day how wide eyed they got.
6points
#33
Not me, but my dad. He was an ambulance driver, and we live in a rural area. Our ambulance service is volunteer, and the drivers usually have some training(CPR, etc) and help put patients on the stretcher ,push it to the ambulance and load/unload it. My brother is also an EMT full time and they would usually sign up for call together.
On one call, the lady they were taking in had several dogs, including a small one. Think chihuahua. It jumped on top of the lady and started running back and forth and growling, barking, snapping at my dad and brother. Without hesitation, my dad, who always wore a baseball cap, took his cap and started swatting at the dog and swearing at it in Czech. Not hurting the dog, just trying to shoo it away.
The week after, the head of the ambulance company stopped by my house because officially, he had to tell my dad he couldn't do stuff like that on calls. Unofficially, he gave my dad a new hat that had the ambulance service logo on the front, and on the back said "Canine Control Unit".
On one call, the lady they were taking in had several dogs, including a small one. Think chihuahua. It jumped on top of the lady and started running back and forth and growling, barking, snapping at my dad and brother. Without hesitation, my dad, who always wore a baseball cap, took his cap and started swatting at the dog and swearing at it in Czech. Not hurting the dog, just trying to shoo it away.
The week after, the head of the ambulance company stopped by my house because officially, he had to tell my dad he couldn't do stuff like that on calls. Unofficially, he gave my dad a new hat that had the ambulance service logo on the front, and on the back said "Canine Control Unit".
6points
#34
Not much of an accident, but I was working military sick call and there were three young Soldiers sitting together who hadn't signed in. I asked the first one, to sign in and state why he was in for sick call. He just states, "HIV test, Sergeant!" I tell him, "Shhh" and remind him about patient confidentiality. I look at the second guy, tell him the same thing, and he states, "HIV test too, Sergeant!". Again, I remind him what I just got done telling his friend. I look at the third Soldier, and he just nods and says, "Yeah, it was the same chick, Sergeant.".
6points
#35
One day on inpatient medicine, I happened to be there when my patient's husband came in to visit. he brought a guitar and spent some time with her singing, then went up and down the floor serenading all the other patients. it was very sweet.
also on inpatient medicine, I once had a female patient in her 80's say, "you have the prettiest ankles I've ever seen". something about the tone, and the unexpected topic, that to this day it's still once of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten.
also on inpatient medicine, I once had a female patient in her 80's say, "you have the prettiest ankles I've ever seen". something about the tone, and the unexpected topic, that to this day it's still once of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten.
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6points
#36
I was working with an elderly nun who had had a stroke. She farted really loud when we were helping her in the shower and told me "that was my b******e blowing you a kiss!".
5points
#37
I had a lovely heavily-tattooed patient get a much-needed transplant that saved their life. The transplant doctor had a stern conversation with the patient about how they could never get another tattoo because of the risk of infection. The patient went out and got the hospital's logo tattooed over their new organ. I wish I could have seen the doctor's face....
5points
#38
Not a medical professional but was talking to a firefighter, funniest thing he said was
“You have no idea how many calls we’ve gotten in where a man was “simply having a cucumber snack in the shower, and somehow fell on it and it slipped in- now they can’t get it out”
I asked how often, he said “I’ve been a firefighter for 2 years, we’ve gotten 5 calls about that or similar. The best part is that they all swear they’re straight.”.
“You have no idea how many calls we’ve gotten in where a man was “simply having a cucumber snack in the shower, and somehow fell on it and it slipped in- now they can’t get it out”
I asked how often, he said “I’ve been a firefighter for 2 years, we’ve gotten 5 calls about that or similar. The best part is that they all swear they’re straight.”.
5points
#39
Working in various ERs in Houston, we would average 2-3 stuck rectal objects per week. There were all kinds; vi******s, cucumbers, carrots, d****s, flashlights, Coke bottles, various kids toys, ears of corn, even a Welch's grape jelly jar. Yeah, the jelly jar probably took some serious work. It was a b***h to get out. (Imagine the loudest cartoon "POP" sound you've ever heard.)
It was fairly routine and we expected to hear all manner of silly excuses...I fell on it, I was giving myself an enema and my wife opened the door, someone tripped over me while I was n**e sunbathing. We heard them all.
But the one that actually made it easier to properly care for the patient was a man who must have been about 50. At some point in his life he had probably been a body builder and was still pretty muscular. He looked like a retired gunnery sergeant.
So I took him back to a room (I was a nurse,) and asked him why he had come to the ER. His answer was something along the lines of, (spoken with a baritone Texas drawl) "Yeah man, I got a big-a*s d***o stuck up my p**p-chute. I'll tell you what , I just love the way these things feel in my a*s, but I guess I got carried away this time! It's happened before. (long sigh...) Sometimes you slip when you really get going! You know what I mean?"
I said thanks for being so upfront. Let's get you in a gown. It sure made life a lot easier.
It was fairly routine and we expected to hear all manner of silly excuses...I fell on it, I was giving myself an enema and my wife opened the door, someone tripped over me while I was n**e sunbathing. We heard them all.
But the one that actually made it easier to properly care for the patient was a man who must have been about 50. At some point in his life he had probably been a body builder and was still pretty muscular. He looked like a retired gunnery sergeant.
So I took him back to a room (I was a nurse,) and asked him why he had come to the ER. His answer was something along the lines of, (spoken with a baritone Texas drawl) "Yeah man, I got a big-a*s d***o stuck up my p**p-chute. I'll tell you what , I just love the way these things feel in my a*s, but I guess I got carried away this time! It's happened before. (long sigh...) Sometimes you slip when you really get going! You know what I mean?"
I said thanks for being so upfront. Let's get you in a gown. It sure made life a lot easier.
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5points
#40
I worked for the overnight dr’s service. A patient called one night and after taking their details they simply said “I’ve got something stuck……….and it’s still buzzing”.
4points