What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)

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.

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...

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. :eek:

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.

she told you you'd burn in hell and she'd be there to watch? That would have creeped me out for sure, what a cold nasty thing to say. My grandmother had dementia, and she could be pretty fiesty, even mean, but never meaner than she had been in real life...and she was a good person, just stubborn and outspoken, so she was always ready for a fight with us and the nurses... But saying something like what your patient said, well, she doesn't sound like she was a nice person at all.

Specializes in ICU & LTAC as RN. FNP.

Thank you Bhavana.

Specializes in Psychiatric and home health Peds..

I have experienced many unexplained things while at work but the one I want to share is of a personal manner. My olderst son who is almost 13 at the age of 3 on the night of December 7, 2001 caught on fire at his father's house. 20% of his body had 2nd and 3rd degree burns. He spent almost a month in an Intensive Care Burn Unit. I was either with him or at a near by Ronald McDonald house. When he came home I had a lot of nursing care to give to my son, I learned more about being a burn nurse than I ever wanted to. When I would try to explain to my son who was four that I knew that what I did hurt and I was sorry I had to do it to help him get better it was a hared thing to do. I once asked him who helped him get better at the hospital and he would say the doctors, nurses, mommy and NiNi. NiNi is what my son called my grandmother. This all seems normal I know but my grandmother had died August 1, 2000, almost 4 months before the fire. I didn't feel creeped out just peaceful knowing that my grandmother is still around and helped my son feel better. The two of them were close and she called him her prince. I was thankful that she was not alive to see this happen to him but I guess she knew anyway and was there with him when he needed her the most. My son who is almost 13 now has no memory of any of the events just the scars. I have memories that are hard to live with but as I write this I think that somehow my grandmother was and is still with me to help throught the tough times in life. Thanks Noni for looking after my boys when I am not able to be there. You are still very much loved and missed. Your princess, the mother of the prince.

I could peruse this thread for hours!

My husband and I used to watch Ghost Hunters, but it seems like they've become ridiculous..we've been hooked on Ghost Adventures for a while now! LOVE them!!

Speaking of, has anyone seen Ghost Lab?! Those guys are so dumb, it cracks me up! I can't stand to watch them because they just plain irritate me with, "Let's get back to the lab!" anytime they may remotely hear something, LOL!

please, please keep these great stories coming. I love them all!!!:)

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

mom has alzheimer's; she's lived in assisted living since dad died two years ago. you'd be surprised how many people give me a hard time about not having her live with me, but this is the decision that mom made back when she was still able to make good decisions. she's lived in the same small town her whole life and she knows everyone in it, their ancestors and their various descendants.

mom is getting to the stage where she can't remember where she is, what's going on or even that dad died. so every time i talk to her it's the same thing. "why do i have to live here?"

"because your memory is too bad for you to live on your own."

"what about your father? he can take care of me."

"he died, mom."

"are you sure? he was just here, and i think he went to work."

so the other night when she insisted that dad had just been to see her and told her not to worry about him because he was just fine, i was sure it was the alzheimer's talking. until i started chatting with the lady who lives across the hall from mom. mom was talking about dad, and the other lady piped up "i thought your father had died, but i saw him walk into your mother's room about an hour ago." that lady has no cognitive issues -- she's in assisted living because she's paraplegic.

Specializes in FNP.

Interesting thread. I don't believe a word of it, but it's been entertaining. ;-) In 20 years, have never seen so much as a shadow, lol.

I know that made your heart sing, Ruby!!

Merry Christmas xoxo

I'm a student nurse. Last week in clinicals there were four of us standing in a corridor (me, another student, an RN, and a transport person). The walls have computers that pull out by a door for quick charting. The doors are difficult to pull open and difficult to push closed by design so they don't slam up or down and hurt someone. They have special hinges similar to what they put on some of the doors at the hospital so they don't slam shut on people.

Well . . we were all standing there and suddenly the computer door slammed open hard and made a loud noise and we jumped. Then it slammed back shut again with another bang. We all started at each other and then me and the transport guy went over and tried to open and shut the door to reproduce what happened, but it was once again moving slowly and resisting us pushing on it too fast. ONe of the nurses mentioned ghosts. A few minutes later I went to the corridor again and the thing was open! And no one was using it or had used it (I asked). I pushed it back up and then tried to pull it down and felt the resistance. Then a CNA lost her diamond earring and it was found in the room right next to this computer cabinet on the floor, the back still closed on it. I then remembered that in this same room, a pt had passed not so peacefully the week before that I had cared for. He was ready to go but his wife would not put him on hospice, and she was quite upset when he passed.

Today another student watched a DNR patient pass peacefully. Right as he passed and his heart stopped, the electronic bed scale (and he was still lying in the bed) gave out the message "The Patient Has Left the Bed." This was witnessed by the RN she was working with as well and they were both creeped out by it.

Specializes in MR/DD.
Working the 3-11 shift in a nursing home, I was doing my med pass when I was summoned by a CNA to a room. Upon entering, the CNA states, "I think she just died, while I was changing her!" I checked for breathin, circulation and the patient's orders. She was a DNR (Do Not Resucitate) then attempted to get a B/P. NOTHING..... so, I called to notify the Pt's son, who requested for Mom to be sent to the ER to be Pronounced, and they would go straight to the hospital. I contacted 911 (our protocol for transferring for pronouncal) and summoned the ambulance. Approximately 20 minutes passed before the ambulance arrived. The Paramedic and EMT followed thier protocol, and followed the same steps I had (breathing, circulation, and BP) and got NOTHING. By the time they loaded my patient, covered her, and set on the way to the hospital, 30-40 mins had passed. In transport to our local hospital the ambulance had to cross a Railroad track. When the ambulance crossed the tracks, the patient sat up, pulled the sheet from her head, and proceeded to point and shake her hand at the Paramedic screaming, "TAKE ME BACK, TAKE ME BACK RIGHT NOW! I MEAN IT, TAKE ME BACK RIGHT NOW!!!" The EMT driving pulled over to check out the commotion, the Paramedic exited the Ambulance and proceeded to Vomit. The paramedic then continued to the hospital, and phoned the nursing home to tell me what had happened. Approximately an hour later, the son phoned stating "I was SUPRISED to arrive at the ER and my mom GREET me! Did you perform CPR after talking to me, you know she was a DNR, right?" When the family was told of this incident, they simply said...."It just wasn't her time."

The only thing that I can come up with (even to this day) is......... the bumps caused by the railroad crossing, "jolted" her heart to start beating again!

Any other thoughts or ideas about this?????

BTW, the paramedic resigned when his shift was over the next morning!

One night the charge nurse was running down the hall to check on a patient whos alarm was going off. The patient was sitting in a chair, unresponsive not breathing and no pulse. The charge nurse called a code while myself and another nurse picked up the patient to put her in bed for CPR. When we put her into the bed we sort of dropped her onto the mattress, at this time the code team was rushing into the room. The lady sat up and was wondering why so many people were around! LOL

Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
Today another student watched a DNR patient pass peacefully. Right as he passed and his heart stopped, the electronic bed scale (and he was still lying in the bed) gave out the message "The Patient Has Left the Bed." This was witnessed by the RN she was working with as well and they were both creeped out by it.

Does anyone else hear the Twilight Zone theme?

Specializes in Lactation.

Well I am going to share my non nursing story with you guys since I am only a nursing hopeful at this point... also its a dream story.

On June 9th 2005 I woke from a dream where I was in a container of some sort, holding on to my daughter for dear life. The Container was rolling and wrenching and I felt smothered. I was crying to God the whole time to protect my daughter. In the end of the dream my daughter and I were walking towards the hottest white light you could ever imagine. I woke up hyperventalating, crying, sweating, shaking and just so scared. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had been dreaming. I immediatly told my husband who just blew me off and got up and got ready for work. I was still crying and stuff so I called my best friend. Christy (best friend) managed to calm me down and talk to me. The thing that she said to me that really stuck with me was " Carla, maybe God was trying to show you that dying isn't really that bad."

I went about my day and calmed down, but around 3 am the next morning my Best Friends husband called and told me that his wife and daughter died in a car accident that afternoon. It was a very horrible accident, hit at a high rate of speed by a drunk driver and both of them died upon impact.

All these years later her words are all that I need to know that she was ok.

+ Join the Discussion