What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

Nursing Stories

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Members are sharing personal experiences and stories related to ghosts, spirits, and paranormal occurrences in healthcare settings. Some members discuss encounters with deceased loved ones or unexplained phenomena, while others share their interest in ghost stories and movies like "Doctor Sleep" and "The Shining." There is a mix of skepticism, curiosity, and belief in the supernatural among the forum participants.

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You are reading page 144 of What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story? by steffck

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...

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colzanurse

17 Posts

Specializes in Med-Surg, Neuroscience, Home Health Care.

To the nurse who says people who have paranormal experiences are only because of being dropped as babies, you're quite wrong. It's something you are born with.

I used to work at a major hospital right out of nursing school. One night we had a patient who coded. After the doc called it and the team left the room, I stayed behind for a moment to think about everything that happened. Suddenly I heard an extremely loud sound from the upper corner of the room nearest to the end of the bed, like an electrical zap. Scared the mess out of me. Somehow I felt that it was the sound of the patient's soul finally leaving the room :confused: .

I have had patients who made comments about "so many people in the room" when it was just myself and an aide. Others have said things like "the other nurse who was just in here told me so and so..." and there had not been any other nurse but me in the room since the previous shift many hours prior. I've seen lots of things out of the corner of my eyes that are moving up or down the hallways. I turn and look, and nothing is there. I've had intuition that I cannot explain about patients whom I just know are doing something dangerous and sure enough when I rush to their rooms I find them almost yanking out an IV or Foley cath while trying to walk unsafely to the bathroom.

Non nursing: I was briefly married to a man who did not snore. But when I would get up in the morning to shower before work, I would hear loud snoring coming from my room through the shared wall between my bedroom and the bathroom. Then I would exit the bathroom and the snoring would stop. Back in the bathroom, I heard the snoring again. My ex was quietly asleep the whole time, never ever snoring.

I had a boyfriend in high school who had definite hauntings in his home. The dog would bark at the wall near the floor in the living room with its hair standing on end and we never saw anything...but sure heard some crazy scuffling/scratching noises that moved around quickly. There was a cold spot in one of the bedrooms that we could put our hands through. It was always there, summer and winter. I was scared to death in that room. It faced east and never would the daylight get in there, not even at sunrise, it was always dark. Then there was a closet in the living room that I couldn't stand, it gave me the willies every time I had to be near it or open the door. I felt that something evil was in there. I think whatever the dog was barking at was usually in that closet and it came out once in a while. I often felt that something was watching me no matter what room I was in, and I was sure it didn't like me.

I saw the tall dark ghost with the top hat that so many of you have described. I was about 12 or 13 and in my bathroom at dad's house fixing my hair in the mirror. I saw the man's reflection in that mirror floating down the hall toward my bedroom. I looked out of the bathroom toward my room and a bright glow was eminating out of the doorway as he disappeared into it. Right away I told dad and he told me to never mention this to anybody because he didn't want anyone to think I was crazy. And of course he said he didn't believe it anyway. I've never mentioned it to him since but I know good and well what I saw. And I wasn't scared of it at all.

I've had the conscious paralysis episodes too that have been described in many posts. I can hear myself breathing but I can't control it, cannot move or speak. During one of these episodes I saw an image of a distinguished older well groomed man with silvery hair and beard, telling me what sounded like "You have not learned!" Somehow I wasn't scared by this and quickly came out of it. I was in my very early 20's at the time and I don't know what exactly what he meant. Who was he? G-d maybe, or a guardian angel? What haven't I learned yet that I need to? Not sure, but I keep searching and learning throughout my life. I keep hoping he will send me another message someday.

I have seen ghosts of animals. I told someone once that I saw a small dog in their home peeking at me and then going into a certain bedroom. This brought great comfort to them because they had to put their beloved pet down when he became severely ill and they had felt guilt about it for years. They told me the dog loved to go into the room I saw him going to and he would sleep under the bed every night.

Recently I saw what looked like a siamese cat looking at me in my house. The previous owners had two older siamese cats that they took with them out of state when they moved. I'm wondering if one of them passed around the time I saw the ghost but I'll probably never know.

I hear lots of strange noises in my current home. It sounds like someone is walking around upstairs when I'm on the ground floor. We don't hear those same noises when we are upstairs.

Several times I've had sensations of someone running their fingers through my hair. Once at a hospital during my student nurse clinicals and another time when I was visiting a relative in a very old house. Strangely I was not afraid.

I've heard my name whispered in my ears on numerous occasions but could never pinpoint it to anything or anyone in particular.

Right after my beloved grandfather passed away I had a very vivid dream that he telephoned me. He said he wasn't sure what was going on asked me what had happened to him. I said "Grandpa, you just died two days ago!" He replied with perfect voice and intonation, "Oh my heavens!" I immediately had the sense of mind to ask him where he was, and he said he wasn't sure. I asked him what he could see, and he wasn't sure. I asked him what he could hear, and again he wasn't sure. Then he asked me in a scared tone if he could come over to my house, and I said, "Sure grandpa, I'm going to the front door right now to see if I can find you!" I opened the door, and could clearly see the neighborhood as if I was actually looking around at it. I called out for grandpa and then I woke up, and began sobbing inconsolably. It was absolutely the most vivid dream I'd ever had, and his voice and inflections were exactly as they were in real life. I felt like I had actually had a conversation with him. I've tried to tell a few people I trust and they just said that it must be because I feel so sad about losing him. I firmly believe he and I had a real conversation in our own way. He died in 2003 and I still miss him terribly. I wish I could have another one of those dreams where he and I can talk again so I can try to find out how he is doing, and if he is with my grandma who died about 5 years before that.

There are more experiences that I will share another time. Nitey nite! :sleep:

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Geani

9 Posts

Specializes in Operating Theatre, Recovery, endoscopy,.

It happened to me once. I was working in ICU and one of the patients was dying. At some stage during night time, I could hear a noise like horses and bells. I looked at the cleaner and she said: "This is Mrs C who is coming to pick up the dead. She is the lady who built up this hospital. And every time when a patient dies, she comes to take him/her away." I didn't trust her words, but after a little while, our patient who was in a coma has died. This happened about 16 years ago, but I never forgot it.

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GHGoonette, BSN, RN

1,249 Posts

Specializes in PACU, OR.

Unbelievable! A five year old post, and it's still alive! I'm, definitely going to read all of them, but I'll have to do it a few pages at a time-over 1,700 to get through! The scariest one I've read so far was the Schroeder's Piano story about possession; now that's terrifying...

Interesting how many hospitals have "grey lady" stories. Cape Town's old Groote Schuur hospital had a grey lady who used to hand out the patient's chocolate drinks in the evening. The kitchen staff would push the trolley into this specific ward, and when the nurses came to hand out the drinks, the "grey lady" had already done it. I might have written it off as just another old hospital legend, but my nursing tutor had experienced the "lady" herself when she was a student. Nobody knew who she was though, even though she was so famous that newspaper articles were written about her.

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raianne

41 Posts

I have a story...it's not a nursing ghost story, because I'm just a student and haven't seen anything scary yet...and I don't know that it's as much of a ghost story as it is a supernatural story, but I want to tell it.

Yesterday I was going to get white shoes for clinicals. My mom came with me. As we were driving past this one kind of scary section of town, we stopped at a traffic light, and my mom said, "Did I ever tell you about the guy we saw here the night pap-pap (her dad) died?" I said no, and she got kind of teary eyed and started to tell me the story.

My grandpa (pap-pap) died five years ago. He had pneumonia and then he went into a coma and died. The hospital called my mom and all her brothers at in the early morning when he went into the coma, and told them to come to the hospital to say their goodbyes. My mom and dad were in the car, driving through this bad part of town at three in the morning on their way to the hospital, and they stopped at the traffic light. A sketchy looking beat-up car pulled up next to them, and the guy in it rolled his window down. My mom said she was whispering to my dad, "No, don't open the window, just drive away, don't do it" because she thought the guy was going to shoot them or carjack them or something. My dad, however, isn't really a timid guy (he's big and he used to be a steelworker and when kids used to get into "my dad is tougher than your dad" arguments, I was always secretly sure that my dad was the toughest) so he rolled down the window.

The guy was younger, and scruffy looking, but my mom couldn't tell me what he really looked like, you know, eyes, skin, hair. She said she couldn't remember. He asked my dad where the closest Walmart was. My dad gave him directions, and the man said thank you. Then he said, "I sense that you are heavy-hearted in this car tonight." (Which, really??? What kind of thing is that for a scruffy guy looking for a Walmart at 3AM to say?? This is when my mom and I both started crying as she was telling the story) My dad said "Yeah, her dad is in the hospital and we're on our way to see him." The man said, "I just wanted to tell you that he's going to be in a better place, and everything's going to be ok." and he drove away. My mom said as soon as he said that, she felt this overwhelming sense of peace, and my dad did too, and they looked at each other and were like "what just happened here?"

That's all. I don't know if that guy was an angel, if there are angels, or just a person who happened to be in the right place at the right time and knew exactly what to say, but either way, I think that it's a cool story.

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JeannieG

27 Posts

I have to add my personal experience to this list of great stories. In 1996, my Dad was in North Shore Hospital on Long Island awaiting transfer to Hospice in Glen Cove. He had lung cancer that metastasized to the brain and had developed numerous tumors that were inoperable. After having signed the DNR, we knew it was just a matter of time. He was still conscious and had no idea that the end was so near but was beginning to experience hallucinations. I was sitting at the end of his hallway in front of a window just a few doors from his room, and I saw a figure walk into his room. So I jumped up to see who it was, and ran into the room. I startled my Dad and asked him where the doctor went, and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

That same night, my sister came running to me because she had seen a dark figure in the hallway by his room that disappeared also. Needless to say, we were very creeped out. Dad passed a couple of days later.

On a professional note, I have experienced this a few times and I saw it also when my father-in-law passed. I have had patients who were unconscious and unresponsive (my father-in-law included) who seem to come out of it and stare as if they're seeing and recognizing something at the foot of their bed. I always like to think that they're recognizing someone who's come to take them to the other side.

Has anyone else seen this?

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FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I

3,619 Posts

Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

I have a story...it's not a nursing ghost story, because I'm just a student and haven't seen anything scary yet...and I don't know that it's as much of a ghost story as it is a supernatural story, but I want to tell it.
Yesterday I was going to get white shoes for clinicals. My mom came with me. As we were driving past this one kind of scary section of town, we stopped at a traffic light, and my mom said, "Did I ever tell you about the guy we saw here the night pap-pap (her dad) died?" I said no, and she got kind of teary eyed and started to tell me the story.
My grandpa (pap-pap) died five years ago. He had pneumonia and then he went into a coma and died. The hospital called my mom and all her brothers at in the early morning when he went into the coma, and told them to come to the hospital to say their goodbyes. My mom and dad were in the car, driving through this bad part of town at three in the morning on their way to the hospital, and they stopped at the traffic light. A sketchy looking beat-up car pulled up next to them, and the guy in it rolled his window down. My mom said she was whispering to my dad, "No, don't open the window, just drive away, don't do it" because she thought the guy was going to shoot them or carjack them or something. My dad, however, isn't really a timid guy (he's big and he used to be a steelworker and when kids used to get into "my dad is tougher than your dad" arguments, I was always secretly sure that my dad was the toughest) so he rolled down the window.
The guy was younger, and scruffy looking, but my mom couldn't tell me what he really looked like, you know, eyes, skin, hair. She said she couldn't remember. He asked my dad where the closest Walmart was. My dad gave him directions, and the man said thank you. Then he said, "I sense that you are heavy-hearted in this car tonight." (Which, really??? What kind of thing is that for a scruffy guy looking for a Walmart at 3AM to say?? This is when my mom and I both started crying as she was telling the story) My dad said "Yeah, her dad is in the hospital and we're on our way to see him." The man said, "I just wanted to tell you that he's going to be in a better place, and everything's going to be ok." and he drove away. My mom said as soon as he said that, she felt this overwhelming sense of peace, and my dad did too, and they looked at each other and were like "what just happened here?"
That's all. I don't know if that guy was an angel, if there are angels, or just a person who happened to be in the right place at the right time and knew exactly what to say, but either way, I think that it's a cool story.

I believe he was an angel.

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amarilla, RN

318 Posts

Specializes in MS, ED.

Can I just say that I LOVE this thread? :yeah:

Two experiences from the hospital:

I had a room with two post-op patients; bed 1 was awaiting discharge on POD 3 and bed 2 was completing a series of abx. Bed 1 goes home and that leaves bed 2, a content 40-something gentleman reading quietly in the room. Later on that shift, I took an admission to bed 1; an elderly gent with CHF, looking worse for wear. Trying to get him settled, I felt badly that I couldn't seem to ease his discomfort, though he thanked me profusely for trying. Fast forward to nighty night, and I give report and go home.

I come back the next day to find bed 1 empty and bed 2 greeting me with a cheerful hello. I ask co-workers what happened to bed 1 and they point him out, in a room in front of the station. Uh oh. Although he wasn't my patient, I stopped in to see how he was doing and was surprised to find him still, peaceful...and looking much more pink and improved from the night before. Hmm. I cursed my (new) nursing judgement for thinking this man so much worse off and after exchanging pleasantries, went back to my own patients.

Bed 2 calls, (unusual), and I go in to check on him. He asks how bed 1 is doing and where he was transferred to. Before I can think of a polite way to answer questions about the status of the other patient, Bed 2's voice gets really low and says, "You know, don't think I'm crazy or anything, but I was sure that guy was going to die."

(keeping face emotionless) I ask, "oh, what made you feel that way?". Bed 2 tells me that he is a priest, and had a feeling that he was placed with this gentleman to "help him cross".

Sure enough, patient from Bed 1 begins to take off his clothes, pointing at people we couldn't see, and telling us that he was going home. He did go home that night, and I was with his nurse to hold his hand as he passed.

Another, from when I was a tech:

Elderly lady patient, in for surgery. Several days on the ward. After surgery, developed an infection and moved to isolation for treatment. Not surprisingly, she deteriorated and became confused as the days mounted. I was in her room, helping her through AM care, when she asked me 'if (I) scared easy'. I laughed - telling her no one from Texas scares easy - and ask her how I can help. She tells me that there is an animal - a furry one, maybe a dog, she says - hiding under the bed. "It keeps biting me", she says, "and it doesn't have eyes, a real mean-looking critter."

(pause to think of good answer) I made a big production of looking for the dog and reassuring her that there wasn't a dog and she needn't be afraid. She told me that I was a dear but I was very mistaken, and she was glad that I couldn't see it.

Sure enough, she began screaming later that night and was flailing against the dog, telling us not to let them get her. She passed away, but kept that awful expression - fright, really - on her face. :uhoh3:

Personally, I've had some strange things happen when I had moved into my last apartment. Scratching in the walls, voices when no one else was home, doors closing on their own, feeling like you're being watched. Landlord wasn't surprised when I moved out at exactly 1 year, 1 day.