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...

[melsch]

I have a new one, and if my co workers read this they will know who I am as we have been comparing stories. A few of us have had unexplained experiences over the past few months on one wing of our building. Two of the nurses have distinctly heard a woman's voice calling "help me, please help me" and even using the name of the nurse - no one else was around and all the patients were sleeping. We also had a patient die one night and his mouth was open, an hour later the staff went in to do something and his mouth was closed and he was smiling.

On the same wing I heard footsteps one night and assumed that my co worker was coming down the hall way, which was unusual as he was supposed to be on his break. I looked in all the rooms but couldn't find him and when I went back to the main dining room he was still in the recliner taking a nap, and hadn't moved since I went down the hall. And the other night there was 3 of us standing in the kitchen when we heard the distinct squeek of wheels on the cart. I thought it was the student nurse, but she came out of the nursing station and said no it wasn't her, but maybe the lady in room 9, until we realized that that room was empty. I am sure it is just one of our recent patients who has not quite left us, and they are not there to do us any harm, I am just hoping they find a way to finish their journey peacefully, before they scare too many of the staff.

[Spikey9001, BSN, RN]

All this thread does is remind me of my own mortality...

[Hay, RN]

I'd have to say nurse managers. I've heard they exist, but I very rarely see one.

Do something wrong and you will! LoL

[StatBlues]

All this thread does is remind me of my own mortality...

So true

[LeeyuhRae]

It's funny, I'm not afraid of these stories as much as I am fascinated. This makes me want to work the night shift when I become a nurse LOL.

I've had 2 experiences that weren't in a hospital, but were creepy nonetheless.

The house my family and I moved into whenever I was around 7 had a family that lived in there before us. The man that lived there before us had died in the home, though I can't remember how exactly. Whenever I was around 8 or 9 I'd see him occasionally in my room. He'd sometimes walk up to my bed (I had bunk beds and slept on the top) and just hold on to the railing, then walk through the door and leave.

Whenever I was a little bit older I was sleeping over at a friend of mine's house with my little brother. My friend lives in one of those old plantation homes here in the south (I believe his home was built in the late 1700's) and it always gave me a really weird feeling. Well one night I'm sleeping there.. since my friend is a guy and I'm a girl he slept in a different room and my brother slept in that room too. His mom slept down stairs for some reason, and I slept upstairs. All of the windows were closed, but in the middle of the night the curtains behind me started blowing and I felt it get really cold. The stairs to the attic passed right in front of the door of the room I was in and I had the door open. It was pretty dark, but it was light enough from the moon shining through the window that I would be able to see if my friend/brother/friend's mom passed by. As the curtains were blowing and I felt it get really cold I started hearing foot steps. I looked at the staircase and I KNEW somebody (something?) was there but my friend/brother/friend's mom weren't there. I could hear my friend's mom still snoring downstairs and I said out loud ""C"? "J"?" but neither of them answered. When everything got back to normal I GOT OUT OF THERE lol. I went downstairs and told my friend's mom what happened, we checked the boys' rooms and they were still asleep and my window was closed and the AC and fan weren't even on. We also checked the house for any intruders but nobody was there, all the doors were locked and windows secured.. It was really weird.

[raebabelvn, LVN]

I'm a home health night nurse. The house I work in is in a secluded area, huge and kinda creepy. About two months ago, strange things started happening with the equipment. The o2 probes would start acting up... that was the first thing. We had a lot of problems with the o2 equipment. So we switched systems. The one we're using now has been fine... except after I fill the o2 tanks. For about a week straight, 2-3 hours after the tanks were full, the valve would open on its own and the tank would hiss wildly.

When I first started this job, I was heading back into my patients room one night after using the restroom and out of my peripheral vision, I saw a woman, wearing all white, standing outside my patients door. When I looked again, she was gone. I was terrified!

[kxvc]

Before being a nurse I was a tech in the cardiac observation unit in the ER. One night the pt's pulse ox was alarming because it was reading in the high 70's low 80's with good pleth. So, I went into the room and changed it to a different finger on the pt. By the 3rd time the RN said we could just take it off the pt so I went in, removed the sensor from pt's finger and put it on standby. A few minutes later it began to alarm again. I went in to disconnect the probe and reassure the pt, but when I reached up to disconnect the probe I found it was not connected to the monitor at all. This scared me and the poor pt. What the pt didn't know is the night before a man in his early 40's had died in that bed of a massive MI.

I am now an ER nurse (still on nights) at a new facility. One night a code bell went off in an empty room. The lever that must be pulled down to call the code from the bedside had been pulled down. There was an RN sitting at the nurse's station and two CNAs watching psych pt's in the rooms next to the one where the code bell went off. No one had seen anyone go into or come out of the room. A few minutes later all the lights in the ER flickered and some of the computers lost power and restarted themselves. Coincidence? Maybe. When dayshifters came on they told us they had, had a code in the room prior to the night shift coming on the previous day. This scared me for weeks! That room is known to be "bad luck" to our patients, and I try to only put my most stable pts in it when I am assigned to it. :redlight:

Most recently I had a sweet elderly lady who was going to be turned over to hospice if not admitted from the ER. She had Alzheimer's/Dementia and thought I was doing awful things to her as I performed ordered tasks. She told me I was going to burn in hell and that she would be there to watch. I didn't like hearing that even though I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong. When I was done, I released her from the restraints and tried to make her comfortable. I left the curtain open and closed the sliding glass door so I could see in the room to make sure she didn't try to climb out of bed and fall. When I came back after checking on my other patients she asked me, "Where is momma? She was sitting right there. Where did she go?" as she pointed to the chair. I told her I wasn't sure. This was my first experience with a pt talking about a loved one that had surely passed although I had heard of it before. I hope she someday finds it in her heart to forgive me, and that she understands my only intent was to help. :redpinkhe

That's pretty much it for hospital ghost stories although I could go on and on about crazy things that would happen in my mother's house where I grew up.

[digitiminimi]

omg :uhoh21: I REALLY hope some of those were made up. I will now proceed to turn all the lights in the house on.

[celticqueen]

I used to watch "Most Haunted," but unfortunately it was outed as a fraud. I felt so gullible. I always thought that Derek guy was over the top. I really believe in TAPS, though. I think they've proven themselves to be very credible.

ah!!!! i knew it!!!!!! i saw most haunted a few times (i'm from the UK), and i always thought derek was a fraud, especially the time he was "possessed" by a 18th century theater actor - still talking with his scouse accent - although he tried to make it sound grand and posh!!! lol

[tencat]

Most Haunted is a fraud. I expect Ghost Hunters is too, but I'm hopeful because they do seem to be a lot more credible. I'm the biggest skeptic in the world, so it would take A LOT to convince me absolutely about ghosties.

[nicenurselpn, LPN]

I used to watch Ghosthunters alot, until they started having ridiculous celebrity guest stars on their investigations! I now watch Ghost Adventures on Travel channel :).

I once worked in a nursing home and took care of a lol who had renal failure and went for dialysis at least 2 to 3 times a week. She was also on fluid restrictions and was only alloted so many ounces a shift. She was also senile! She would always say "Nice nurse you gonna get me some water?" lol. Anyhow, she somehow got MRSA in her dialysis shunt and had to go to the hospital for a few weeks. While in the hospital she got a horrible Stage 3-4 pressure ulcer. She came back to us and we had to do bid dressing changes. We would premedicate her with Percocet before the dressing changes. Well she got sicker and sicker and refused to eat. She was also a DNR. The morning she died, she kept begging us to "Dont let them take me" She was screaming and begging not to die. When that poor woman died, she had a look of horror and terror on her face. I have since wondered what exactly came to get her? I have been with patients as they have took their last breaths, and they were absolutely peaceful. I have actually seen people die with a smile on their face. It makes you wonder if the life you lived is what you are judged by?

Wendy LPN

[nicenurselpn, LPN]

One more..... 15 years ago my precious baby boy died at the age of 5 years old. He was severely mentally handicapped and multiple medical issues from birth. (he is the reason why I am a nurse) He passed away Oct 15th 1995 after another bout of pneumonia. Basically his neuro doc told me that the only part of his brain that was working was the brain stem, and he was on borrowed time prior to his passing. After he died, I would beg God to let me see my baby boy one more time. God never answered my prayers and begging him until 13 years later............. I had a dream that I was holding my son and were in our old house in the living room ( I used to hold my baby for hours and hours) I could feel the warmth of his skin, the softness of his hair, and his scent. This dream was so real and vivid, and I swear to you that I actually was holding my baby boy. I woke up crying and thanking God for the greatest gift. This dream was on my 40th birthday. You need to understand, that prior to that wonder experience, I had NEVER had a dream of my baby boy. Just that one time only, I havent dreamed of him since...... A few weeks after my sons funeral, I did have a dream in which my grandpa and I were walking in a field (he was a farmer) he was holding my hand and told me "Your son is safe and I am watching him and taking care of him. You dont need to worry anymore". I havent dreamed of my grandpa since either........... God is great and he answers prayers and requests, you just need a little patience sometimes.

Wendy LPN