What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

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...

2602 Answers

The best I have heard is from a nurse who said that one night she was floated to oncology at the hospital she used to work at. She was given a patient who was passing away and had been unconscious for several days. At one point during the night the nurse went into the room and the patient was at the top of the bed and looked at her and said, "don't let them take me!", the nurse was freaked out and asked her who was going to take her and she said that black thing up there and pointed up in the air. This patient died within minutes.

I used to work in a state inst for developmentally disabled. We were temp relocated to another building for remodeling of our bldg. Anyways...I was working one nite, 2nd shift. We had a locked pica unit. I saw one of the residents walking down the hall. Very distinct gait and very distinct yellow t-shirt w/ a happy face on it. I went into the ward to let staff know that they had an escapee. This was a serious situation because this particular resident, Larry, would ingest absolutely anything (from clothing to pens to belts to *ugh* a bird's head)...literally anything. He was also very reluctant to go back to his home ward (hence why I didn't bring him back myself...he needed two escorts). When we got back into the hall, less than 15 secs later, Larry was gone!! We searched the entire building! Outside, downstairs, all wards...he was NO WHERE to be found!!! This whole search lasted last than 10 mins because I had all extra staff looking for him. I was just about to call the house supervisor to let her know that we "lost" someone when out from the bathroom walks Larry w/ one of the staff. He had been getting his bath in the bathroom for the last 30 mins or so. Kind of freaky! I absolutely, without a doubt, saw Larry in the hallway. I never would've short-staffed the wards like I did if I hadn't seen him! Like I said, very distinctive gait, look, clothing. I took a lot of razzing that nite! They all thought that I was crazy. Anyways, come to find out the next day, after the story goes around that I am crazy (haha, gigglegiggle, funnyfunny)..............Larry had an identical twin brother who died in that building 10 yrs previously.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Heard a story once about a 5th floor neuro unit. This was told to me first person. Nurse was at the desk and a guy in white nursing garb came through the double doors, walked into an empty room, and didn't come back out.

Nurse thought it was wierd so he went into the room, and it was empty.

He went to the double doors and opened them and there were 2 resp techs talking at the entrance who swore they'd been there talking the whole time and that nobody came through the doors.

When one of his co-workers returned from lunch and he explained what happened, she was like, "Oh, that's just bob (actually I don't remember the name, so the name were changed to protect my ignorance). He worked here as an lvn years ago and was accused of molesting a child. He was sure he was about to be arrested so he jumped out the window in that room and killed himself. We see him all the time . . ."

The story of "Rocking Mary." We closed room 12 in our MICU because just about every patient that has been there since Mary died complaints of seeing a woman in wearing a white habit rocking back and forth by their bedside. Apparently this nun never makes eye contact...just stares outside the window which happens to be on the patient left side over their head. This window overlooks the hospital cemetery where nuns that have died where buried. Mary was a nun that died of a car accident outside the hospital back in the 50's. She was only about 30 years old and all patient describes her as a young woman. We all thought that it was the "sun-down syndrome." Anyways, since then room 12 became our storage room where no one goes in by themselves unless it is absolutely critical.

I got called to a code in the hallway. A patient was being transfered from the ER to the floor. She passed away in the hall. According to the tech, they were carrying on a conversation, the lady looked up, said " Oh, here comes God, I think I will go with him." She passed away right then.

Specializes in ICU, CCU, Trauma, neuro, Geriatrics.

Prior to becoming a nurse, I was a paramedic. One patient all the way to the hospital told me about all the spirits in the ambulance and said that it looks like many people have died in here. She sat up, yelped, said OH GOD grabbed her chest and died as we pulled into the ER parking spot. We did CPR on the way in and she was pronounced by the ER doc after doing CPR for at least 10 mins.

We had a resident that had been hollering staff members names and banging on the wall instead of using her call light the night she passed away I had helped clean her up and then went to empty the soiled linen cart as I was emptying the cart I heard her scream my name and I ran out of the soiled linen room and did not go back in there alone.

I worked my way through nursing school as a housekeeper/security. One time the other man on security got a call from the nurses in the LTC floor of the hospital. They said they needed help because there was a ghost. Like the night housekeeper is going to be able to help you. So he asked her what kind of ghost it was. She wasn't sure what he meant. He asked her if she could see through it. She said yes. He said then it can't grab you, so don't worry about it. Now if you can't see through it, maybe there is something I can do.

The nurses weren't amused, but I think it is funny.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

Every hospital I've ever worked in has at least one ghost. I've never worked in a nursing home, but I hear from a friend who has that they have their ghosts as well.

Years ago -- and this will age me -- I worked at the old peter bent brigham hospital. We'd just moved into our brand new tower, and the old hospital was scheduled for demolition. Several coworkers wanted to walk through the old unit one last time . . . . As we walked past what had once been the large men's ward, we saw a couple of figures in what should have been a completely empty ward. One of my coworkers peeked in to investigate and immediately backed out, face as white as a blank order sheet. Of course I was curious then, so looked in myself. All I saw was two older men sitting on an old bed, chatting. My coworker explained : that was billy and larry (or moe and joe -- I've forgotten the names) they were frequent fliers in the ward. Both were royal pains in the patoot when they were alive -- which they weren't anymore. She said they'd been rumored to still be hanging around, but no one had actually seen them before!

I've also enjoyed reading these stories. I don't have a ghost story, but I do have a "dream" story.

I am currently a nurse at an independent birth center. At the time of this story, there were three nurses that took turns taking call, and three docs/mws who took turns with call. Meaning that a patient could end up with any combination of nurse and doc/mw at their birth.

I got called in one night to the labor of a woman who had five children, all boys, and the last pregnancy an "ooops." She wanted a girl (even though we all figured she was having a boy, since her previous 5 had been), so as a joke, we put pink sheets on the bed. When she and her husband arrived at the birth center, we said, "Look, D., pink sheets for your little girl!" and her dh looked at us very strangely and said, "Did she tell you about her dream?" And then she got upset with him and said "No, no, don't say anything, I haven't told anyone but you, if I tell, it will spoil it; it won't come true!"

So fast forward three hours, when her baby makes an entrance. It's a girl! We hand her up to mama and are drying her off, and I say, "Wow, I think that's your smallest baby yet! She can't be over 6 pounds!"

And she says, "She is, too, she is 6# 4oz and her name is Amelie. Last night I dreamed all about this, that I would have the baby tonight, that you and N (the mw) would be on call, that you would put pink sheets on the bed for my baby, and that it would be a girl. When she came out, in my dream, she looked up at me and said, my name is Amelie. And I said, no it isn't, I don't like that name. And then she said to me, I don't care, that is my name, you have to name me that!"

The mw and I just looked at each other and had goosebumps. Later I weighed her; she was 6# 2oz. I said something to the mw that "Well, she was two ounces off!" and the mw said, "No she wasn't, the baby peed right before you weighed her!"

Okay, it gets even better. One and a half years later D walks into the clinic, unannounced, no appointment, and asks me if I have time to listen to see if I can hear heart tones. I said, "I didn't even know you were pregnant!" She says, "I'm still nursing, but Amelie keeps coming up to me and pointing to my tummy and saying baby. You probably think I'm crazy!" I said, "D, I was at Amelie's birth, I have never seen anything like that. If I hear heart tones, I wouldn't be surprised." Sure enough, I could get heart tones. I looked over at Amelie and said, "Are you going to have a little sister or brother?" And that kid, all 1 1/2 years of age, said, "Baby - Me!" I looked at D and she said, "She's saying, the baby is a girl like her."

We did an US this time for unsure dates; sure enough, that baby is a girl.

I have never experienced anything like that. It wasn't scary or creepy, and I don't get an odd feel from Amelie; but there is no doubt something special about that little girl.

The posting above about Amelie and her prediction prompts me to talk about someone else with an uncanny gift. My grandfather's cousin had a reputation for being something of a clairvoyant. Before tarot cards and psychics became as commonplace as they are in today's culture, ladies like S (my grandad's cousin) sometimes used regular old playing cards as tools for asking questions about the future. S knew ahead of time if someone was going to die - for example: my grandad and his friends went out on some hunting trip (this was when they were all teenagers) and as they were leaving, S apparently turned to my great grandmother and told her who wouldn't be coming back. The poor guy froze to death after getting lost in the woods out hunting.

There are several other stories about S that both my mother and her sister have shared with me. My favorite is how when my mom was 16 and her sister was 12, S told my mom that she would soon be on a stage, being recognized and applauded, and this would lead her away from home. S also told my mom's sister that she would have a hard life and be married twice, and that she would be alone for many years after her first brief marriage before finding happiness and being well-cared for late in life. Well, three years after this, my mother won a beauty pageant and off she went to the national competition. My aunt, meanwhile, married at 21, divorced him at 29, raised her kids by herself on a secretary's pay, and finally remarried at 51.

There are other examples I could list, but this post is too long already. Suffice it to say, I believe there are people out there, like Amelie, with a gift.

Specializes in Geriatrics and Quality Improvement,.
Sure enough, I could get heart tones. I looked over at Amelie and said, "Are you going to have a little sister or brother?" And that kid, all 1 1/2 years of age, said, "Baby - Me!" I looked at D and she said, "She's saying, the baby is a girl like her."

We did an US this time for unsure dates; sure enough, that baby is a girl.

I have never experienced anything like that. It wasn't scary or creepy, and I don't get an odd feel from Amelie; but there is no doubt something special about that little girl.

Well, i have really enjoyed these stories. I work in LTC, and started on teh unit I returned to just a few months ago. A few of my 'old' residents who passed are still here.. Peek-a-boo Gus still pops out of his room and looks around the door, waving us down. Gus had passed in 99. Charlie used to clang that darn oxygen key....you could hear it down the hall, and still do. Residents who are ill, and in stages of passing, there is a considerate 'person' in their room, packing their belongings...and when you look in the closet,the items are on the floor, off the hangar. Many times it is easy to see the relatives who come for the dying person. Vic had 6 male relatives come for him, and he said thats cuz he let himself go a bit(he was really big) and they needed all the wings they could muster to lift him up. They only visited on my shift(days at that time) and he passed on my shift.

Personally...Nana.. My gramma..she was a nurse too. She visits to tell me when things will happen, and I have just come to accept that she is my guardian angel. She told me when I was pregnant, and what I would have. She let me know that my other gram was passing, and keeps me intuned with my kids. I guess she feels she owes it to me, since she died the day before my wedding.

I couldnt imagine a world without the ability to speak to her still, and therein seats my deep belief that we need to help them pass, and lead them to THEIR angels. Keep that window open, just enuff to let the spirit out, they need to be drawn to the light, and opening the window will aid in that.

What I wanted to comment on was this.. My son would often play with his "sister' before I was even pregnant. He even gave his description. Now we are waiting to see if Little Ana grows up to look like the image he described. Children know...and there is something to be said for "The 7th son of the 7th son"(or daughter).

Blessed in the Light with the knowledge of Heaven.

:nurse:

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