Deathbed visions

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Have you taken care of any patients who've had any?

The first time I had a patient who was apparently having one was a lady who kept looking straight ahead at the wall & having conversations with someone named Mary that no one else could see. Come to find out from her adult son, Mary was his aunt who was deceased. The patient died a few days later.

Another one was recently. She was an elderly lady who was so weak, she could barely speak and definately was unable to assist us when we would turn her from side to side. Well, while we were all sitting in the nurses station charting and it was quiet, we heard her talking. Her room was beside the nurses station and we kept the door open. We all looked and the lady was SITTING UP IN BED and talking loud enough that we could hear from outside the room. When asked who she was talking to, she said it was a little girl dressed in white who keeps coming to see her. A little while later, the lady was back the way she was before she had that visitor we couldn't see. We told her niece about it the next morning when she came to visit and she said several of their family members have also talked of a little girl dressed in white coming to see them soon before death. That lady also died a few days later.

Neither of these patients had been medicated with anything that would cause hallucinations and neither were confused patients. I've heard of other nurses who've seen these kinds of things happen. Have you?

Specializes in rehab,geriatrics.

many people have these visions.i have seen it alot in 40 years nursing in all different settings.personal experience-my father chose to die at home rather than stay in hospital-several hours prior to dying he was seeing my grandma and his brother,both were dead.these visions made him smile and his lips moved as talking to them but we could not hear it.i believe the only reason he didn't go right after seeing them is he was waiting for my sister to arrive from out of state,after she came,he went quietly in his sleep with his 7 children,16grandchildren,3 great grandchildren with him.MY mother died in a hospital room but she too had a vision-my father and my twin brother who died at birth came for her she told us.we had hospice for her and we were all with her in her room or in waiting room next to it.In the 13 months between their deaths while mom was at home she would hear kitchen cupboards opening and closing in middle of night and the tv would come on to my fathers favorite western movie station-she always said dad was waiting around for her and i now believe it as since her death these things never happen. also had a patient tell me i am going home tonight when asked how she knew she told me her beloved husband of 50 years was standing at the bottom of the bed waiting to take her to heaven and closed her eyes and died with smile on her lips:uhoh3: gerinurse

Specializes in rehab,geriatrics.

many people have these visions.i have seen it alot in 40 years nursing in all different settings.personal experience-my father chose to die at home rather than stay in hospital-several hours prior to dying he was seeing my grandma and his brother,both were dead.these visions made him smile and his lips moved as talking to them but we could not hear it.i believe the only reason he didn't go right after seeing them is he was waiting for my sister to arrive from out of state,after she came,he went quietly in his sleep with his 7 children,16grandchildren,3 great grandchildren with him.MY mother died in a hospital room but she too had a vision-my father and my twin brother who died at birth came for her she told us.we had hospice for her and we were all with her in her room or in waiting room next to it.In the 13 months between their deaths while mom was at home she would hear kitchen cupboards opening and closing in middle of night and the tv would come on to my fathers favorite western movie station-she always said dad was waiting around for her and i now believe it as since her death these things never happen. also had a patient tell me i am going home tonight when asked how she knew she told me her beloved husband of 50 years was standing at the bottom of the bed waiting to take her to heaven and closed her eyes and died with smile on her lips:uhoh3: gerinurse

Specializes in critical care transport.

This thread rivals the "best nursing ghost stories thread." :-)

I'm not a religious person, but i have no doubt that there is much more out there than just this life. I've read a couple of great books dealing with these subjects; Life after Life by Raymond A. Moody and Transformed by the Light by Melvin Morse, M.D., and Paul Perry

Sorry if this post has gone off track a bit just find the whole life after death subject fascinating!

Kat

I know exactly what you mean. Although I haven't personally witnessed a pt have such a vision, my husband - an ICU nurse - has. A friend also recently told me that her dying grandmother looked at something nobody else could see and said, "I'll be ready to go with you soon."

After much research and reading on the subject (subseqent to the untimely death of my brother last summer) I have come to believe that these are truly visions and not hallucinations. I find this very reassuring, and not just for the patients.

DeLana

Specializes in critical care transport.

Dr. Morse was my doctor when I was a teenager. He's a nice guy.

my dad was in end stage chf and my mother could not bring herself to sign a dnr

one day they had to do a code on him and when he was able to talk he told mom about a vision of the most beautiful place he had ever seen and how angry he was at the icu staff for bringing him away fro there

that day she signed the dnr and he passed away the next afternoon

i hope that he found his way back to that beautiful place

I've worked in nursing homes for the past 14 years and have never seen anyone experience what i would call a true deathbed vision, as the few that did talk to dead relatives did so before they were even sick, due to Alzheimer's, etc. But i have seen 2 relatives have deathbed visions. My great grandma started talking to her death mother at her moment of death, and my grandpa saw a light up in the corner of the hospital room that no one else could see, for about an hour as he slipped away. Both of them died of cancer, an both were 100% in their right minds.

Specializes in geriatrics,med/surg,vents.

I have seen this a few times,one was a man that had been admitted that day for rehab,VSS,no problems all shift,he was completely oriented,laying in bed and not able to move very much.Near the end of my shift I was walki;ng by his room and saw he had his legs over the bedrail,I went in and got him straightened up,when I asked him what he was doing he saidd"I'm trying to catch up with them"I asked him who and he said "the angels in the hallway"I told the oncoming nurse and sure enough he died about 4 hours later.

Another time one of my pts told me her son had been in to visit her while I was at lunch,I said that I was sorry I hadn't gotten to meet him and she looked at me like I was crazy and said well you couldn't see him anyway he's dead! I asked her what he said and she told me he told her that she couldn't come with him yet.She got better and went home.

Specializes in CCU.

This has been an awesome post, I have enjoyed all the replies! What I have witnessed in my years of healthcare. At the nursing home I noticed this experience: When the residents were nearing death, we would usually observe them starring out the window towards the sun, or towards any type of light. In their dreams before they would become comatose they would dream of walking with their relatives who have passed away. I have had several patients talk to dead relatives. My great-grandmother did this before she died, she was speaking with my father. My grandmother did the same, she told my grandfather she was going home and she died 48 hours later. She had sclaraderma, my great-grandmother had CHF. Another thing I have observed is the glassy eye look when someone is about to pass. I will say pallative/hospice patients are my favorite to take care of. I find it the most rewarding, death can be as beautiful as a the birth of a child. "Birth is a beginning and death is a destination....." Kudos to all you hospice nurses out there!!!!!!

Specializes in home health.

]I've seen a lot of the behaviors stateed here, but nothing hit me so much as my own father's death 2 years ago . He had Lung CA, was pretty much in a coma, hadn't spoken for over a day. He did keep reaching his hand up. A couple of hours before he died, he said (as clear as could be) "Well, OK God" a little bit later he said "Well why not?"

] I want to know the OTHER half of that conversation!

]

]He also kept reaching his hand like he was petting one of his cats. Bo (18 pounds) would NOT get off the bed for the couple of days before dad died.

]

About 7 years ago my mother was dying of cancer. During her last 3 days she saw 3-5 angels surrounding her room staying close to the ceiling. She spoke of them to my sister and I several times. Talked about how beautiful they were. Two weeks before she died she had an out of body experience and when she came back to us she could not remember who my sister was, wondered if she had been sick and asked if she was dying. We answered all of her questions honestly. She then asked to speak to her hospice nurse alone. She told the nurse of being in a void and how peaceful it was. She eventually remembered my sister and passed away peacefully. She is the reason I went to nursing school at age 44. I want to be to other people what her nurse was to her. Thanks to everyone who replied to this post, it is a wonderful read.

Wonderful Post!! My grandfather passed away at 92 exactly 1 yr ago today. I think it's amazing that I found this post today, anyway, he had many of the same experiences mentioned above. He kept talking about all the visitors. Now he did have a few friends and family always in and out but he saw his mother and father, and a few good friends who went way before he did. We mostly went along with it, but my Grandmother got a little spooked when he kept saying there was a little girl hiding behing their TV (He was at home, and had Hospice coming, but was still cohearant) she said there was no one there, but he insisted. A few days later my 2 children and I stopped in to visit, and when he saw my 4 y/o daughter, he said "Oh there she is, there is that beautiful girl that was behind the TV." He continued to ask my daughter why she was there, and she just said, "I wanted to see you." and walked out. He just kind of giggled (which was odd because he had been grouchy, and in a lot of pain). I think he died a week later. When I asked my daughter what she thought of what Grandpa said, she seemed to have the wisdom of a 40 y/o and said "oh he was just having some fun." I liked that thought.

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