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...

these happens during my 3rd year 2nd semester (already a grad student). while my other groupmates are still doing their endorsements, me and my other groupmate rested on the stairs while waiting for them to be finished. while we were chatting, we noticed a kid playing and running on the upper floor. we know that that floor isn't currently used so we were curious why that kid was there. when we went there, the floor was so quiet and verydark. we wanted to continue searching but our clinical instructor is already calling the students so we went down without finding the kid. our clinical instructor asked us where did we go and we said we saw a kid playing on the upper floor. the resident nurse said that that kid died on that floor during her confinement and she sometimes show up playing on that floor.......

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

That would have totally sent me around the bend.

Specializes in DD, Geriatrics, Neuro.

I've got a couple:

I had just gotten through telling someone I didn't believe the story about the ghost in the building (I work in a large facility for the developementally disabled in an old hospital). I went back to case file to do some charting. My marker was laying on the desk and began spinning back and forth very slowly. I'm not sure how long. I finally said, very quietly, "Ok, I believe you are there." The spinning stopped.

#2 In nursing school I was taking care of this gentleman who has just been diagnosed with cancer that had basically spread to all of his abdominal organs. I kept trying to get his blood sugar under control, and was really trying to get his pain better. I gave him two bed baths because he was sweating so badly, and even tried massage on his back and feet. He kept telling me he was ready to go and that he wanted to be with his late wife again. He said a couple of times it was ok for me to leave the room. It was time for me to go, so I told him goodbye and thank you for letting me take care of him. He just looked at me and said, "No, Thank You." I came in for class the next day and my instructor pulled me aside. Seems the gentleman was found dead in his bed LESS than fifteen minutes after I left the floor. He waited until I was gone to die, I swear he did.

#3 Not really a nursing ghost story, but happened while I was in nursing school. I was out in the middle of the woods hiking in the rain and darkness (yes I am certifiable) when my cell phone went off. I answered it thinking there was something wrong with my child or my dad or grandmother. It was my mom, and I could tell by the tone in her voice something was wrong. I asked her who had went to the hospital. She got a tremble and told me that my grandma (her mom) had had a massive heart attack at home and couldn't be brought back by the ambulance crew and was pronounced at the hospital twenty minutes later. I told her I could be home within three to four hours. She told me no, that everything would be ok and that my kid would be fine. She told me that Grandma would want me to stay there and take care of my obligations to the people whom I was leading hiking and camping. I finished the hike I was on (not sure how) without anyone knowing what was going on. I went back to the lodge and lost it for a while. I came out and finished up the evening. That night when I went to bed I had a dream. My grandmother said, "It's alright, I'm Ok. Have a good time, finish your weekend, and good luck on finals." I had finals for the first semester of nursing school just three days after her death. I got a 94% on that test. I finished out the year for her. I swear I could have seen her smiling at me on graduation.

Specializes in ortho/neuro/general surgery.

worked oncology last night, went in the med room and no one else was in there, a plastic bag hanging off the laptop computer in there started swinging back and forth and kept going for a couple minutes until I was done with what I was doing in there and raced out

Well this didn't happen in a hospital or anything, but story of my great grandfather, he was a very religious man and would see spirits, one night he told his son to leave the door open of a bedroom and his son (in his 20's at that time) forgot to leave the door open and closed the door, soon after everyone was asleep there was a wild knock and the door was shaking, my great grandfathers son just freaked and opened the door and he saw a spirit walk past him into another room. The next morning my great grandfather told his son, I told you to leave the door open because there is a good spirit that lives in the tree and everynight he comes through the window into the bedroom and to the living room into my room and wakes me up to say morning prayers.

Also when my great grandfather was taking his last breath, all his family and including me were around his bed at home and he said to all of us move out of the way let him come through,and greeted this spirit, we looked back and did not see anyone. Apparently, he greeted the Angel of Death and soon enough he passed away. And my great grandfather was in perfect health mentally and physically till his last breath.

This thread has me completely creeped out, but I can't stop reading! I swear I couldn't sleep last night after reading some of these. I don't have any ghost stories, but something happened when my mom was sick.

She had terminal cancer and one night we were all asleep only to be awakened by the T.V. on, sound full blast! I jumped out of bed and ran to the den, and there's my mom holding the remote and staring at the T.V. As I'm turning it off I'm saying, "Mom, what's going on???" I'm half asleep, disoriented and kind of freaked out. So she starts yelling, "It's OK! It's OK! Everything is going to be OK!!!" She is really happy and excited (like a manic state) and won't stop saying this. She wouldn't explain further, and we all went back to bed.

Well, about a month later a friend of my moms tells me an angel visited her, and that this angel told my mom not to worry, everything was going to be alright. Completely tripped me out! It made me feel good though, knowing she felt some peace about what she was going through.

I work in Pall Care and it was scary to me, but this unconscious man, like totally unconscious, just before he died, opened his eyes and looked me RIGHT in the eye with the BIGGEST smile on his face, and the smile stayed on his face after he died, everyone commented on it, but it was so scary to me when he looked me Right in the eye, I was terrified, everyone said don't be silly as he was smiling but it was stills scary to me as he was unconscious until the end. I still wonder what he saw?

when i was having my 24 hours striaght duty in an old small hospital, a town away from my school. it was 2 in the morning while i'm staying at the nurses' station with my clinical instructor to help me in the charting.. when we looked in the broken window quite far from us, we saw a lady staring at us... i and clinical instructor were so scared... and we walked so fast until we reached the room when the student nurses were staying.... so scary....

:sofahider I had to go turn on a light.

The things I have experienced (but have nothing to do with nursing):

I was 14 when my father passed away. The night that he died, I was in bed but unable to go to sleep. I was thinking about him and things we used to do. I suddenly got this feeling like someone was holding my hand. I would like to think that he was there trying to comfort me. He held my hand until I fell asleep.

More recently, my older sister passed away. One night, I could not sleep and was lying on my sofa watching Nick at Nite or something of that nature. I felt as if someone was watching me. I looked up and my sister was standing in the doorway to the dining room. I said hi and she disappeared. I was filled with a peaceful feeling.

This thread contains some beautiful stories.

Specializes in Toxicology/Progressive care.

:welcome: I work on a Pulmonary unit. Michael was 32, mentally challenged and had lived in a group home. Was admitted with sepsis after scalding his scrotal area with hot fluid (an accident) and the wound developed infection. He was trached, septic, developed resp failure. We had him from his initial incident and for 4 years after. He had no family and when he came in we treated him like our child. We brought him food, movies to watch and became his family. His favorite thing was to get admitted for chest pain (he knew that was his ticket in the door) during the holidays to be with us.. He coded and died one day after a dialysis treatment which was a huge suprise to all of the staff. 6 months later our floor was being moved to another floor for renovations.. Michael was always in room 14,, On the day of the move, I was in charge and made one last trip upstairs to make sure everything was taken to the new floor (charts, meds, bedside boards etc). The floor was deserted and eerily quiet. As I stood and looked up and down the hall, room 14's call light went on. A chill went up my spine, I went into the room. Nothing and no one was in there but the room was very cold and had the odor of Michael (we always brought OLD Spice cologne in for him). I am sure that it was Michael's way of saying good bye to us and the floor. :uhoh3:

Worked in a hospital in texas that had been run by nuns in the old days. While on call for the OR, we often slept in the nurses lounge. The story was that the Sister who ran the OR in those times would wake up the staff is an emergency was in the ER. Even 50 years after she died. Don't know if I was dreaming or it was real, but sure enough, I was awakened one night by a nun in full habit telling me to get the OR ready. A few minutes later the phone rang and ER was sending us a pt. Gave me cold chills for years, brrrrrr

Specializes in Lie detection.

I have several...

1) Room 508 call bell went off, room completely empty and no pt's had been in it for over 24 hrs.

2) One night on break, I went to take a quick 20 min. snooze (worked NOC's) in the old wing they used to use for phys. therapy. i laid down in the dark, after about 10 min, I felt coolness touching my shoulders and gentle pressure and the air just felt really strange. I know it sounds weird but I swear I am not too crazy.

3) Me and another nurse were bathing a 91 yr.old man and he started going out on us,swaying and saying "I see a light" well, my coworker told him "it's ok to go to the light" and darned if thats exactly what he did.

:Santa5: Beez

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