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...

I have been reading this thread for the past couple of days. Tonight, a patient died on my ICU unit rather unexpectedly. About 1 minute after she was pronounced by myself and another RN, the "service alarm" on her bed started going off. I unplugged the bed and plugged it back in (usually fixes the problem), but the bed kept alarming. I tried silencing it, but it started up again. The other RN and I were kind of freaking out, so I said, "Have you opened the window yet?" The other RN opened the window and I silenced the bed one last time. The alarm never came back on again.

My mom is an RN at a Shriner's hospital where they have a well-known resident ghost named Charlie. They think he must have been a Shriner, because he is such a prankster. One day my mom had to go to the attic of the hospital, which doubles as a storage room, to get a couple of wheelchair for routine maintenance. She knew that it would probably take an hour to get them together because the nurses at her hospital are always mixing and matching pieces from different wheelchairs, but for maintenance all the numbered pieces have to match. When she was getting off the elevator to the attic she could hear the door leading to the main storage area opening and closing by itself, which scared her a little. She yelled out, "Charlie, you're not helping!!" When she got to the attic, both of the wheelchairs she was looking for were side by side, put together correctly. She yelled out, "Thank you!" and got the heck outta there!

the hair on the back of my neck is sticking straight up

Okay, okay. I'll break down and tell one of mine. I have have more than a few weird things happen to me... the most recent only about 2 months ago at home, but I'll tell you about things that happened at the LTC I used to work at.

I worked 3-11 and was busy putting my last pt to bed. She was really the last pt in the facility that had not been tucked in because she wanted to wait for her tv show to finish... no problem.

She lived in room 306 bed B...the bed by the window.

Now, I was her bathroom brushing her dentures. The bathroom door was open. I could look up in the bathroom mirror above the sink and see anyone who might enter the room and walk past the bathroom door.

I was concentrating on her teeth when I glanced up, looked in the mirror and saw a little white haired lady in a pink or peach top zoom past into the room.

I immediately stopped what I was doing to see who was on the prowl. Before I even made it out of the bathroom, I hear Margaret say, "She's in here again!"

I about s*** my pants. There was no one there but Margaret! She had no room mate in the first bed at this time.

Now, the door out of this room was before the bathroom. You walked into the room, you passed the bathroom, you past the first bed and then there was Margaret's bed. I left that bathroom immediately to investigate. There is no way anyone could have passed me to leave the room without me seeing them... or flat out running smack into them. But there was no one there!

I was freaked! Margagret looked worried, and I don't think the look on my face helped!

Now, this room is where the dang call light used to go off, we'd go answer it and by-golly! No one in the room had pulled their call cords. It was weird.

Margaret would sometimes even pull the cord to tell us that a "lady" would wander in and stare at her... and even sit on her bed!

Margaret was alert and oriented x 3. She was sharp, actually.

We just looked at each other and I remember I actually laughed (nervously!) when Margaret just shrugged her shoulders. We couldn't figure it out.

I called the "ghost" Peaches for the color of outfit I saw her wearing.

Another aide had a similar experience with Peaches and neither one of us liked to answer the call in 306 alone at night.

All our wanderers were accounted for in bed... you tell me!

Specializes in ortho/neuro/general surgery.

Hmm... in the last month or so, I've had a few weird things happen. An older lady asked who the children in the room were. It was middle of night shift, no children around. :behindpc:

A younger guy patient told me someone was sitting in his bedside chair and asked if I thought he was crazy. I told him no. That particular room has had multiple successful and unsuccessful codes, several of them close to each other, which actually prompted that room to be shut down for several days last fall, unofficially. The charge nurses just kind of all agreed they wouldn't admit to that room unless they had to. :eek:

In a particular room I strongly suspect is haunted, at least a couple patients have seen a man sitting in their chair or standing in their room. That room also has had multiple codes. I have had more than one patient go bad in that room. Ugh! If anyone believed me, I'd have it turned into storage. :no:

I guess when pts say they see someone in their room that I dont' see, I don't automatically assume it's due to hallucinations. :confused:

Specializes in Geriatrics.

My Grandfather had Alzheimer's and for the last year or so of his life, if asked, he would say he was 43. Actually he was 83 when he died. At the Funeral Home, He looked so peaceful, and SOOOOOmuch younger. The Morticians made the comment that they did not even use any makeup on him at all. He actually seemed to have a little smile.

Specializes in med-surg.

Just putting in a bookmark for myself.

Awesome thread! Keep them coming.

I used to be an EVP analyst for a local investigative paranormal group and one of the locations we were investigating had a lot of activity in the basement. I had not been to the location previously, but other members of the team had been.

Two of the team members were 'taunting' the entities in the area to make temperature changes, etc. I played 'good cop' and asked nicely. A minute later, a ghostly mist in the general shape of an arm came into my peripheral vision like it was head toward my neck. I gave a little screech and jumped back. After catching my breath and processing what I seen, I told the other members. One them immediately begins berating the entity for picking on me and proceeds to demand that it make its presence known.

A couple days later, I'm going through the audio and my fellow member is saying "Shame on you for picking on Bec". It followed by a very tinny 'Tricked her'. She continues to berate the spirit and a growling 'Sorry, not talking to Ghosthunter' is heard.

I quit the group, destroyed the tape and decided that my spare time was better spent helping the living.

Specializes in ER, Peds, CCU.

It's taken me a really long time to post this, I wouldn't believe it myself if it hadn't happened to me, and if my best friend wasn't there to witness it. We've been best friends since middle school, went to nursing school together and now work at the same hospital in Virginia. I'm an ER nurse and she's a floater, on December 11, 2007 she was working in the ER with me to help cover due to holiday vacations.

On the week of Halloween my boyfriend and I decided to take the plunge and move in together, he's a Fire Fighter / EMT. We met in the ER when he was bringing in a patient.

It as a very quiet night in the ER, I was running vitals on a new patient who came in complaining of chest pains when my friend walked in to tell me I had a phone call. She gave me a quick wink when she told me "I'll take over", I already knew who was on the phone. When I picked up the reciever at the nurses station it was the love of my life, Garrett. He started out with his normal, boisterous "Hey Baby!" It's funny how two words can make you smile, then he told me "I'm getting ready to leave" I just thought he was heading to the fire house as I knew he was working that night. Then he said, "I wanted to hear you voice one more time before I left...... I love you...." I laughed and told him I loved him and I would see him soon, then in a really quiet voice he said "yeah, you will." I told him I loved him one more time and we hung up, I went back to my patient and relayed the conversation to my best friend.

Within a few minutes it seemed as if our hospital was surrounded by lights and sirens. Three police cars and two fire trucks flanking one ambulance. Everyone available suited up and gloved up. I went back to my chest pains patient who I think was looking more for a warm bed then meds to help with the pain. I saw the gurney rush in, EMT's were performing CPR, there was total chaos.

After a few minutes when I had my patient settled in and a bed ready for him upstairs I walked out of his room and saw a few of the EMT's Garrett worked with standing with their backs to me looking into the trauma room with the new patient. I called Briggs name walking towards them and when he turned around he had a grave expression on his face. The first thing he said to me was, "I didn't know you were working tonight" I told him yes, Garrett and I were both working tonight. Then I asked, what's wrong? All of them were staring at me, no one moved, so I asked again - louder "What's Wrong?!" I looked over Briggs shoulder into the trauma room and felt my world collapse around me. Garrett was lying on the gurney, intebated, defibrillators against his chest, there was blood everywhere. I screamed and tried to bolt into the room, to touch him, to hold him, to do anything I could to help. Briggs caught me around the waist and held on so tight I realized within the next few days I had bruises on my sides. I just remember crumpling to the floor watching - helpless, sobbing and screaming his name. The doctors pronounced him at 8:42pm. His Nissan Titan had been t-boned (drivers side) by a tractor trailer going roughly 50 mph. There was no hope....

The day before the funeral several of us were sitting at our house....my house....no one was really talking we were just....sitting there. My best friend broke the silence and said, "Well, you were able to talk to him one last time, able to say I love you before he died." I smiled, a fresh batch of tears started, I just shook my head and whispered, "the accident must have happened a few minutes after he called." I looked across the living room and Briggs had an odd expression on his face, I asked what was wrong - he asked me "What time did you talk to Garrett", I thought about it for a few minutes and then my expression matched his, then I answered him "About 20 minutes before you brought him in...." Briggs stared at me. My best friend asked, "Why do you ask?" Still staring at me Briggs answered "Because that's not possible, we recieved the call at the station at 7:36, we were on the scene by 7:41 and Garrett wasn't concious, by the time we pulled him out of the truck a little after 8:00 he didn't have a pulse, we started CPR immediately. Stacy, there's no way you could have talked to Garrett before we brought him in.... he was already dead."

No one in the room spoke, we all knew it had happened, my best friend answered the phone herself, Garrett said hello to her first and asked to speak to me. Other nurses and doctors around the nursing station overhead our conversation. He called to say he loved me one more time before he left.........

Months of therapy, weeks of vacation before stepping foot back into the ER. Some wounds never fully heal, and I don't really consider this a ghost story because I don't consider the man I loved most in this world a ghost - everyday I cherish the fact that I was allowed to talk to him one more time..... And I know he's still with me.... my firefighter....

Specializes in Critical Care.
It's taken me a really long time to post this, I wouldn't believe it myself if it hadn't happened to me, and if my best friend wasn't there to witness it. We've been best friends since middle school, went to nursing school together and now work at the same hospital in Virginia. I'm an ER nurse and she's a floater, on December 11, 2007 she was working in the ER with me to help cover due to holiday vacations.

On the week of Halloween my boyfriend and I decided to take the plunge and move in together, he's a Fire Fighter / EMT. We met in the ER when he was bringing in a patient.

It as a very quiet night in the ER, I was running vitals on a new patient who came in complaining of chest pains when my friend walked in to tell me I had a phone call. She gave me a quick wink when she told me "I'll take over", I already knew who was on the phone. When I picked up the reciever at the nurses station it was the love of my life, Garrett. He started out with his normal, boisterous "Hey Baby!" It's funny how two words can make you smile, then he told me "I'm getting ready to leave" I just thought he was heading to the fire house as I knew he was working that night. Then he said, "I wanted to hear you voice one more time before I left...... I love you...." I laughed and told him I loved him and I would see him soon, then in a really quiet voice he said "yeah, you will." I told him I loved him one more time and we hung up, I went back to my patient and relayed the conversation to my best friend.

Within a few minutes it seemed as if our hospital was surrounded by lights and sirens. Three police cars and two fire trucks flanking one ambulance. Everyone available suited up and gloved up. I went back to my chest pains patient who I think was looking more for a warm bed then meds to help with the pain. I saw the gurney rush in, EMT's were performing CPR, there was total chaos.

After a few minutes when I had my patient settled in and a bed ready for him upstairs I walked out of his room and saw a few of the EMT's Garrett worked with standing with their backs to me looking into the trauma room with the new patient. I called Briggs name walking towards them and when he turned around he had a grave expression on his face. The first thing he said to me was, "I didn't know you were working tonight" I told him yes, Garrett and I were both working tonight. Then I asked, what's wrong? All of them were staring at me, no one moved, so I asked again - louder "What's Wrong?!" I looked over Briggs shoulder into the trauma room and felt my world collapse around me. Garrett was lying on the gurney, intebated, defibrillators against his chest, there was blood everywhere. I screamed and tried to bolt into the room, to touch him, to hold him, to do anything I could to help. Briggs caught me around the waist and held on so tight I realized within the next few days I had bruises on my sides. I just remember crumpling to the floor watching - helpless, sobbing and screaming his name. The doctors pronounced him at 8:42pm. His Nissan Titan had been t-boned (drivers side) by a tractor trailer going roughly 50 mph. There was no hope....

The day before the funeral several of us were sitting at our house....my house....no one was really talking we were just....sitting there. My best friend broke the silence and said, "Well, you were able to talk to him one last time, able to say I love you before he died." I smiled, a fresh batch of tears started, I just shook my head and whispered, "the accident must have happened a few minutes after he called." I looked across the living room and Briggs had an odd expression on his face, I asked what was wrong - he asked me "What time did you talk to Garrett", I thought about it for a few minutes and then my expression matched his, then I answered him "About 20 minutes before you brought him in...." Briggs stared at me. My best friend asked, "Why do you ask?" Still staring at me Briggs answered "Because that's not possible, we recieved the call at the station at 7:36, we were on the scene by 7:41 and Garrett wasn't concious, by the time we pulled him out of the truck a little after 8:00 he didn't have a pulse, we started CPR immediately. Stacy, there's no way you could have talked to Garrett before we brought him in.... he was already dead."

No one in the room spoke, we all knew it had happened, my best friend answered the phone herself, Garrett said hello to her first and asked to speak to me. Other nurses and doctors around the nursing station overhead our conversation. He called to say he loved me one more time before he left.........

Months of therapy, weeks of vacation before stepping foot back into the ER. Some wounds never fully heal, and I don't really consider this a ghost story because I don't consider the man I loved most in this world a ghost - everyday I cherish the fact that I was allowed to talk to him one more time..... And I know he's still with me.... my firefighter....

All I can do is sit here bawling my eyes out. :cry: He must love you very much.

Specializes in ER, Peds, CCU.

I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. You're right, we loved each other very much.............

Thank you for the wonderful stories, I have plenty to share working in the hospital, especially the ER but this was by far my most special.

Keep them coming, I just need to remember NOT to read them before bed time! :eek:

LOL

Specializes in midwifery, NICU.

staclyn..((((:heartbeat)))). heart-tearing story honey. you had one special man there..

Some call them "ghosts"... I prefer to think of them as "angels".

Specializes in Critical Care.
I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. You're right, we loved each other very much.............

LOL

Please, don't apologize, I was so moved by the story. It really shows that love can conquer even death, if only for a brief moment.

Specializes in Geriatrics.

What a beatiful love story. If we all could be lucky enough to experience such a great love.

On another note- My office is in a building that is away from the main building of our LTC. The last 2 days, i've worked our odd shift of 11 am- 7:30 pm. Both nights when I've gone into my office before leaving to go home, I have heard a noise like someone brushing against one of the microphones in the auditorium nest to my office. Of course , when I went into that part of the building, NO ONE was there. Besidees that, the microphones have not even been on!!

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