Death bed visions

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello everybody. I can not think of a better place to ask this questions other than a forum full of what I believe to be Gods angels in human form.

In your experience taking care of the injured and specificaly the dying, what are your thoughts and experiences regarding those ready to pass being able to see something just prior?

THere are so many accounts but from people and professions that dont fit the bill in terms of those qualified to answer this. In your opinion is there more after this? Aside of any religious beliefs do you on a personal level feel there is something else beyond?

Thank you in advance.

Eric

I work in LTC. There is a lady who reaches out to the air and also talks to her dead sister, father, and her sons. Full on conversations. On some days she has terrifying visions, like once she was convinced that there were holes in the ground that were going to swallow her up. She went blind from her condition a while ago and the doctors say that when she lost her vision the brain often compensates with mental hallucinations.

One severely demented lady thanked me and my coworkers and said she loved us and we were angels. She said this to everyone and then died the next shift, a few days before she had this moment of clarity where she was talking to me about her husband.

My coworker walked into the room when another lady was dying unexpectedly on her shift. Very devout Catholic lady with a huge family. She had her eyes wide but all she said was a weak, "Help me." (she called this out all the time when I cared for her though). Then she took her last breath and passed uneventfully.

I think that something weird does happen when you die but it's what you make of it. I personally don't believe in an afterlife but if I have hallucinations about hubby or my family that puts me at peace then bring on the chemicals or schizophrenia or whatever is going on. Whatever puts you at ease in the last stages of life

It always astounds me when these "scientific" types denigrate anecdotal EVIDENCE. They seem to think that anecdotes are not evidence at all. But, as any scientist knows, anecdotal evidence is EVIDENCE, itself. Admittedly, it's not empirical evidence. It's not a double blinded controlled experiment, but it IS EVIDENCE.

If all people who jump off a skyscraper die, one after the other, and their friends tell of their deaths after jumping off the skyscaper, this is also anecdotal evidence. Would you suggest that we stage a double blinded controlled experiment because we need more EVIDENCE that people jumping off of the skyscraper will result in their death?

"No one wants to believe their loved one is burning for eternity, but let me tell you if no one else has.... really good people die and end up in Hell."

Amazing statement for someone who is still alive and kicking. Have you ever been to Hell, my dear?

Yes, I have had the honor to be with several individuals during the dying process and at the moment of death. Most of these patients have had profound experiences during this time involving angels, other friends/family members who have passed on and at the time of death, several have had expressions of awe and wonder on their faces....I have been so deeply blessed to witness these times.....it is breathtaking and beautiful.....

Specializes in Hospice.

SPOT ON! I have been with THOUSANDS of people who are near death or have died in my presence. It is an honor and I have been blessed to be working with them for 23 plus years. I am one of the few have become a nurse FOR hospice purposes. Keep taking care of the dying and BLESSINGS to you!

Yikes, that was pretty horrifying, especially for him, I'd bet. I have read about some people who have had near death experiences in which they recount hellish visions, I hope its the drugs in that case.

I'm not sure if I'm replying correctly. .. and I'm not sure exactly what I'm hoping for in response. . But do you have any thoughts for someone who is genuinely terrified by these sorts of accounts? These absolutely haunt me. On one level, I have lost multiple loved ones, and the thought that they could possibly be suffering in another realm is so horrific. On another level, I am so frightened by these accounts myself. Overall I consider myself a gentle, humane person. I am a nanny who loves children. I can't fathom sending any human being to a realm of horror and suffering. Life is suffering enough as it is. I fear a god or a universe who would create or allow that. I sincerely hope that these disturbing experiences are only hallucinations, bc I can't imagine any moral reason to subject a human being to that level of agony. If real, then it saps all sweetness and joy from life and it makes it a terrible misfortune to exist at all. Do you have any way to help me make sense of this?

a lot of nurses here will know what I mean when I say the curly haired little girl...

Specializes in Rehab, Med-surg, Neuroscience.

Sorry to drop in so late in the thread. In reading the replies it seems like death-visions and out of body experiences are very, very common.

Now, I haven't been a nurse for long, but I've seen and cared for a good number of dying patients, and I've never ever seen anything like this. People say death is peaceful and beautiful, but almost every single one I've seen the patient died alone, quietly, with no fanfare or sudden reaching out for angels or dead relatives.

The only events that were notable was when the patients 'choose' to pass shortly after family members go to get some food or take a break.

One gentleman died sitting up in bed with his eyes open and a distressed look on his face... I get chills down my back wondering if he had been awake when he died, and I feel guilty that I wasn't able to be sitting beside him when he went. He was all alone.

All my patient death experiences have felt cold and lonely. It's left me jaded and I know that. When people talk about when their grandmother died and she looked so peaceful and it was a transcending experience, I'm like 'what??' I don't get it.

a lot of nurses here will know what I mean when I say the curly haired little girl...

I don't... what do you mean?

A lot of people, esp women for some reason see a little curly haired girl sometimes with ribbons in her hair right before they die. The girl never says anything to them but will come in their room and look at them or sit in a chair. Occasionally I have heard of her being accompanied by a little boy also. So when ever someone calls me into their room to ask who that curly haired girl was, I know they are going to die soon. Almost every nurse I work with also has experienced this with people.

It seems to me just about every patient whom I have been with in the dying process has reached upwards towards the sky or said they see a bright light coming towards them. Some are talking a conversation that only they seem to hear. I do ask patients if they are seeing angels and some admit that they are. I usually make sure I notify the family, after checking vitals, of course, because I have found that when they say they are seeing angels it is not long before they pass.

I work on a unit with a lot of hospice/palliative/comfort care patients and have heard from many coworkers that seeing or hearing children days to hours before passing is pretty common. I haven't encountered it myself.

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