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...

I do believe in ghosts. Just like I believe in full moon shifts, and knocking on wood, and throwing salt over my shoulder, and bad things happening in 3's. ?

I can do without the Bible, doe.

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

About a year ago a beloved coworker of mine died suddenly. He didn't show up for work one night - very unlike him - so they sent the police out to his house to check on him and they found him dead. He lived alone and worked weird hours so it wasn't unusual for him to go a day or two without checking in with his parents who lived close by.

Anyway, his death really shattered a lot of us who loved him. He was a fantastic guy who never met a stranger and never asked anyone to be anything other than who they were. Anyway, I had been struggling a lot with this grief, not being able to process, because we had no idea what had actually happened or how or anything. No details at the time.

About a week after he died, I couldn't sleep - trying to process something I couldn't wrap my head around - and took a short hike on a local trail. Just trying to think and cry and take pictures of things I think he'd have liked. I remember thinking to no one in particular that whatever had happened, I hoped that he hadn't suffered before he died, that it had been something quick or that he'd never known what was about to happen. At the exact moment I thought those things, a very distinct smell of honeysuckle came drifting on the breeze, very unmistakable. I stopped and looked around; there was no honeysuckle anywhere within a hundred yards of where I was standing (I looked, because it's strange to smell that at this time of year anyway). I'm not a woo-woo kind of person but I am 100% certain that was his way of letting me know he was ok.

Later we found out that he'd died in his sleep, cerebral aneurysm. No suffering. But I knew before that, because he had already let me know. Again, I tend toward skepticism about a lot but there was no mistaking this in my mind.

Alrighty, in the spirit of Halloween week and because I have more than a few stories, here is another. This one is not hospital related as my first two were but I hope y'all like them.

When I was around 6 or 7, I was at church and in between Sunday School and the Worship service was about 15 mins of time. So I was doing like the other kids and getting a drink of water and hanging out in the hallway before heading out to the sanctuary. My friends had all gone out to the sanctuary and I was getting one last drink of water. When I looked up from the fountain, my Uncle John was standing there. He told me that I better "get your little hind end out to the pew before your Momma comes and gets you." I said, "Ok Uncle John." He then went into the mens room. I thought I would wait and go out with him and sit with him and Aunt Edna. Well about a minute later, I realized that Uncle John had died the week before and I took off running for the sanctuary. After that I never stayed in that hallway by myself if I could help it.

When I was around 12, I was helping with the spring church clean up. I had cleaned the nursery/toddler room and gone outside for a few minutes. When I cam back in, a ball came rolling out of that room. I went and picked it up and started to take it back in the room. When I looked in the room, my 2 yr old cousin was sitting on the floor playing with a bunch of toys. He looked at me and smiled and waved. Then he disappeared. He had drowned in a pond just a few months before. I went back outside and didn't go back in that room for the rest of the day.

RNstudent2017 said:
Wow, that's kind of rude. Everyone else expressed their opinion, she can't? You have the option to keep scrolling if it aggravates you.

No, rude is spouting religious crap on a non religious thread.

I know of someone who can easily see disembodied spirits, they are as numerous or more as those with bodies. They are everywhere, co-existing and living their lives, less a physical body, often doing the same things they enjoyed while in body.

Some are nice, some are jerks, just like those with a body. Some you want around, others you don't.

I just say, "Hi back to you" when the TV goes off on its own, etc. and I guess they are satisfied that I acknowledged them.

I was on my cell phone talking with a friend and as soon as I brought up my recently deceased father, my phone shut off and would not turn back on for several minutes. I finally said out loud, "Ok, hi dad, I know you're here, please turn the phone back on!" and it immediately turned on.

The repeated events others wrote of are loops of stuck energy, like taped reruns.

Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.
TheGooch said:
No, rude is spouting religious crap on a non religious thread.

Wow, "rude" is you saying "spouting religious crap". Why disrespect what a person believes in, you could have voiced your opinion in a much nicer and respectful way. She has her opinion and so do you. And frankly I agree with her. And yes you are the one being rude.

My son was a little escape artist and would run down the driveway to cross the street to go where Grandma lived. I would chase him and every single time he would "trip" right as he got to the busy road and when I began to panic I wouldn't catch him in time.

That is more disturbing to me than most all of the ghost stories. Sad!

Postpartum RN said:
Wow, "rude" is you saying "spouting religious crap". Why disrespect what a person believes in, you could have voiced your opinion in a much nicer and respectful way. She has her opinion and so do you. And frankly I agree with her. And yes you are the one being rude.

Attempting to impose your beliefs is rude, gooch, is just being straight forward.

Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

It is fine to disagree with another person's opinion or beliefs as long as you do so in a respectful way.

Calling another person's beliefs "crap" is definitely not respectful.

If you think a post is inappropriate in content or in the wrong forum, please report rather than engaging in rude and divisive conversation.

Further rude posts will be deleted.

I've left my body many times. Once I visited a friend and described his bedroom, I'd never been to his house before. Kind of freaked him out.

Except a professor discovered 666 was an incorrect translation and it should be 616.

I know this is a blog but should give a starting point for more research

Beast's real mark devalued to '616'

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