What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

Nursing is a profession that often involves long lonely night shifts in eerie hospital wards. It's a perfect breeding ground for ghost stories. These stories often involve sightings of apparitions, strange noises, and unexplained events that are said to have taken place in hospitals, hospices, and other healthcare settings. Some of these stories are believed to be based on true events, while others are purely fictional. Regardless, they continue to captivate and intrigue both nurses and non-nurses alike - providing a spooky glimpse into the world of healthcare after dark.

I know you have seen and heard freaky things. Share your nursing ghost stories...

Years ago, when in Nursing school, my best friend and I were assigned to patients in adjoining rooms. During the day she came to my room with a worried look on her face. She had been struggling with a complication her patient had and was at a lost as to what to do. I wasn't able to help her but told her I would find the instructor and have him come to her room. We meet up a hour later and I asked if the instructor was able to help her. She said by the time he arrived another nurse had helped her figure out the problem.

She wanted to thank that nurse so we went to the nurses station and inquired who that person was and were we could find her. The charge nurse looked at my friend in a funny way and asked why we wanted to find that nurse. We explained what had happened. The charge nurse said the nurse we were looking for no longer worked there and she had been the previous charge nurse, until she had DIED 3 years earlier. I will never, ever forget this.

When I worked ER I could usually tell when a CODE was going to be successful or not because I could feel the spirit of those that were still there. One time we had a 24 year old man who was in a car wreck brought in. By the time the ambulance reached the ER doors, he was in full arrest. We coded him for quite a while to no avail. Afterward, I was left to tidy up and tag and bag him. I could still feel his spirit. I pulled the curtains around the bed and told him to "go to the light and don't look back." I could literally feel his spirit leave.

So I have this woman on my unit who is well into her 100's, one morning she asked me where the little boy was, I told her that I wasn't sure what she mean. normally this woman is lucid with only some mild confusion, after talking with her some more she stated that there was a little boy that was standing there with her, asking her to go with him and that he had left. I told her I must have missed him, a few moments later she was leaning over her wheelchair talking to herself, when I asked who she was talking to she said the little boy and that he wanted her to go with him. I asked her where, she asked him where, he told her away. I got goosebumps, then asked for an order for a U/A. for the next few days she would talk to this little boy, however her U/A was fine. She hasn't talked to him in a while but I often wonder if he is her angel. :)

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.

This one time I was walking down a dark alley and felt something warm behind me, I turned around and there was nobody there, I thought it was a ghost until I realized that it was my taco dinner just escaping my body like a smelly ghost.... Really people there are no such things as ghosts, demons, Angels or gods LMAO

Specializes in Cardiac/Neuro.

As a new nurses aide that was barely eighteen I worked at a tiny rural hospital. We had one ICU bed next to the nurses station. It was often used for hospice (anyone really critical we air transported out). We had a sweet little patient I'll call "Rose". I was filling her water pitcher one night and she was lucid which was a rare occasion. She looked right past my left shoulder and said, "Oh you're here to get me." as peaceful as a woman in church.

I stared at her confused and said, "Rose, it's the middle of the night, you don't have any tests. I'm just here to fill your pitcher." She looked at me and smiled, "I'm not talking you, dear." Needless to say the hair stood up on the back of my neck and couldn't bear to turn around to see if anything was behind me.

I left the room quickly and told the nurse. Rose was a DNR died peacefully within minutes. The funny thing is, everytime someone died on the floor at that hospital the outdoor automatic ER doors would open just an inch and then close again. It was a running joke because the ER would always call the floor and ask who died. The ER doors opened that night to let Rose and her visitor out. I swear on my Father's ashes this is true. I've seen to many weird things like this happen in several hospitals not to believe in some kind of soul or afterlife.

I was working as a nurses aid while I was in nursing school, while still in training one of our pa tints paseed away. My preceptor and I had to bring the body down to the morgue. Normally once you get down there you use the phone outside the door to call and have security let you in. When we got there we heard lots of noise on the other side of the door, metal instruments on the mteal table like an autopsy was being done. So we just knocked on the door, after knocking several times with no response, and calling out hello, we finally called security. The noise continued until a few seconds before the security officer arrived. When he opened the door their was no one in there and no sign that anyone had been there! I tried to avoid going to the morgue whenever possible after that.

A lot of the nurses in my unit have talked about how the "back of the SICU" is haunted. I never really thought much about it, being a bit of a skeptic. Now that Halloween is approaching, their stories of witnessing the ghost have been amping up, One night while I was back in the "pit" of the SICU, where the ghost allegedly is, they started up with the stories again. This time I guess I was feeling cheekier than usual and piped up. I said something about how they are just being silly and impressionable and that most of their stories sound like they could easily have explainable causes. They all just shrugged and laughed and warned me that I would learn.

The following night I was in the pit again, this shift I was working with a brand new agency nurse. At one point I was standing in my patients room, preparing to drop an OG tube when I saw the agency nurse walking down the hall toward me. As she approached my room, she stopped abruptly and screamed "get away from her!". Stunned, I realized she was yelling this towards me! I turned to look behind me, and the only person there was my ventilated and sedated patient calmly lying in bed. I looked back at the nurse and she just looked confused. She said "I swear I just saw a man standing right behind you, like an inch behind you, leaning over you like a total creep!". Unsettled I looked around, and decided she must have seen the bair hugger behind me with the blanket draped over it and thought that was a person (granted it was nowhere near me). No sooner had I said that, the lights went off in the room, the patients bed alarm went off, and the tv turned on full volume!!!!! I turned them all off as quickly as possible yelling OK OK YOU'RE REAL I GET IT - I'M SORRY!!! I haven't had a problem in that room since, but it's only been a few weeks...

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.
A lot of the nurses in my unit have talked about how the "back of the SICU" is haunted. I never really thought much about it, being a bit of a skeptic. Now that Halloween is approaching, their stories of witnessing the ghost have been amping up, One night while I was back in the "pit" of the SICU, where the ghost allegedly is, they started up with the stories again. This time I guess I was feeling cheekier than usual and piped up. I said something about how they are just being silly and impressionable and that most of their stories sound like they could easily have explainable causes. They all just shrugged and laughed and warned me that I would learn.

The following night I was in the pit again, this shift I was working with a brand new agency nurse. At one point I was standing in my patients room, preparing to drop an OG tube when I saw the agency nurse walking down the hall toward me. As she approached my room, she stopped abruptly and screamed "get away from her!". Stunned, I realized she was yelling this towards me! I turned to look behind me, and the only person there was my ventilated and sedated patient calmly lying in bed. I looked back at the nurse and she just looked confused. She said "I swear I just saw a man standing right behind you, like an inch behind you, leaning over you like a total creep!". Unsettled I looked around, and decided she must have seen the bair hugger behind me with the blanket draped over it and thought that was a person (granted it was nowhere near me). No sooner had I said that, the lights went off in the room, the patients bed alarm went off, and the tv turned on full volume!!!!! I turned them all off as quickly as possible yelling OK OK YOU'RE REAL I GET IT - I'M SORRY!!! I haven't had a problem in that room since, but it's only been a few weeks...

Umm they would have to call a code brown if that happened to me lmao

Really people there are no such things as ghosts, demons, Angels or gods LMAO

Awwwww!!!!

Now, I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of it.

Goodness knows, I've had my share of peculiar experiences.

Is there a scientific reason?

Probably.

But until we get it all figured out...

Let me have my fun!

:zombie:

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
This one time I was walking down a dark alley and felt something warm behind me, I turned around and there was nobody there, I thought it was a ghost until I realized that it was my taco dinner just escaping my body like a smelly ghost.... Really people there are no such things as ghosts, demons, Angels or gods LMAO
LOL too funny...my SIL calls them Barking spiders. ;)

I don't know I have met some people that are the devil incarnate...LOL

No one is saying they are real...this is a fun thread with interesting stories that has been going on a LONG time and one of my favorites. People like to be scared.

I LOVE Halloween! halloween-mask.gif

ps. God, angels, and the Devil are very real to some people and NOT the topic of this thread.

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.
LOL too funny...my SIL calls them Barking spiders. ;)

I don't know I have met some people that are the devil incarnate...LOL

No one is saying they are real...this is a fun thread with interesting stories that has been going on a LONG time and one of my favorites. People like to be scared. I LOVE Halloween!

ps. God, angels, and the Devil are very real to some people and NOT the topic of this thread.

A fair point :-)

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
liberated847 said:
A fair point ?

I live by Salem MA....it is my fav time of year

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