they see dead people

Nurses General Nursing

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In my 7 years of clinical nursing experience, I have encountered many incidents wherein dying patients, especially cancer patients in do-not-resuscitate status, would see relatives who apparently were already dead.

Yesterday while I was in a patient's room giving some instructions to the family; the patient, a 56 year-old female, with breast cancer (lungs, and bone metastasis), dying, in DNR status, suddenly raised her hand like reaching for something. Blankly staring at the ceiling, she struggled to speak, thanking her parents whom she said have finally arrived to fetch her so the three of them can fly together. She was pronounced dead after almost 2 hours after that incident.

It's like they were just hallucinating of some sort due to rapid deterioration of mental faculties. But it still makes me wonder why they tend to "see" their parents or other close relatives instead of say, angels or Elvis? :specs:

Who knows why they do not see Elvis, or Angels? Thank goodness that when people die, they have someone, or something special to help them move on. Both of my parents passed on in 2007, my mother 1st, who from what I am told was reaching out to her parents, then, my father, who was so lonesome for my mom, that I know he was going on a journey looking for her. There is someone out there for all of us, at least that is what I believe.

Specializes in Gerontology.

I had a pt who coded post surgery. She told me that she was going towards a white light when she was met by an angel who told her that is wasn't her time yet - she needed to go back.So she did.

I had goosebumps when she told me her story.

When my dad died I could feel him in the ER.....spooky weird feeling....(He had passed a couple hours before I could get to the hospital...)

I do believe that people hang around to say goodbye to their loved ones even after they have left their body....

Specializes in Psychiatry.
i consider myself incredibly blessed, to have been a part of so many of my dying pt's experiences.

it is truly a privilege.

leslie

Leslie,

Your patients are truly fortunate to have you for their nurse, and you are a credit to the nursing profession!

Fondly,

Diane, RN

Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

We don't know who my Grandmother was seeing before she died, but the last time my DH came to see her (he was dropping me off so I could spend the night with her at the hospital) she told me that she wanted to go to bed. As she was already in bed, I said, "Grandmother, you're in bed already, just go to sleep if you want."

"I am not in bed, I'm standing in the kitchen."

"No, Grandmother, you're in bed."

At this point, she looked in the corner, where NOBODY was, and said, "Hmph, does it LOOK like I'm in bed?"

DH turned chalk white, said "Mrs. DW's grandma, I hope you feel better soon", and BOOKED. Absolutely refused to go back in that room, and offered to take me back home so I would not have to stay with "them".

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

When my grandfather was dying of emphysema, I went to visit him in the hospital. My Aunt, who was making the decisions, was praying for a miracle and would not put him on comfort care. That night, I had a dream that I was breaking him out of the hospital. I had him in a wheelchair and was pushing him down the hall, and helicopters were chasing us, and alarms going off, spotlights all over the place, like some kind of movie jailbreak. He died that day.

When my mom had pancreatic cancer I had a dream that my cat from when I was young came to me from behind a baseball fence. I picked him up, and he laid his head on my shoulder and it felt like he was comforting me. He didn't talk or anything weird, but I could just strongly sense what he was trying to communicate. Then a young girl came and was on the other side of the fence, which I knew I couldn't cross, and my cat went to her. I knew he had to stay with her. My mom went into the hospital for the last time that morning.

I am not religious, and don't really believe in an after-life, but I can tell you all it did not feel like a dream. It felt so real, and to this day I am 75% sure that my cat came to let me know my mom was dying.

I am a firm believer that you can see someone who has passed on. When I was a teenager I saw my great grandmother who had been dead for several years. It scared me to death but I know what I saw.

Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

My mother - an RN, former ICU nurse and longtime house supervisor, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was a patient in the hospital where she had worked for so many years. The night before she died, my father was in the room alone with her. She said "Look at all the relatives!" She started naming people off, all of whom had passed away. Did she really see them, or was this just a hallucination? I can't answer that question.

Specializes in psychiatric nursing, med/surg adult care.

The soul lives on even after death

Specializes in ED.

It's possible that as a person's body shuts down, and the brain cells begin to die, the brain clings to whatever images and memories are the deepest, earliest, and most entrenched. This could produce images of parents and grandparents, who likely died before the patient. Maybe the body struggles for a small time of lucidity and only has those deepest memories left, then the body fatigues and the person dies, which could be why they see dead relatives shortly before they die.

Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Hospice,IV Therapy.

My Dad had been ill for a number of years and had not slept well for a long time due to chronic pain. The day after he died, my Mom woke up and heard him snoring like he used to and she sensed his presence beside her. She said it happened several more times throughout the year.

Several years after that, my Mom was dying at home and several days before she died she started mentioning my Dad and her father and several times she was chatting away staring straight ahead. The night before she died I was closing the kitchen blinds and there were 2 orbs of light shining in the window. I didn't see anything that would be shining the lights in the window. I was so sleep deprived that I just closed the blinds. Later on after getting some sleep it occurred to me that the orbs were probably my Dad and grandfather!!

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