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...

I've posted in this thread before but I just remembered another story

This is way back when I was a student nurse in London - this was in the days of hospital based training and I was working at the Royal London Hospital in the east end of London. A very old hospital - its changed a lot since.

Anyway - I used to live in one of the nurses homes like a lot of us did. We all said they were haunted - they had been there forever!

One year I had gone to stay with a friend for a few days after Christmas. When I got back I put my bag on my bed and knocked on the door opposite where my friend lived and she came to my room for coffee while I unpacked.

After I had emptied my bag I noticed I didn't have my de-odorant - not really a big deal but I totally remembered packing it (because I'd had to move it in my bag to make it fit properly) and besides - it was so cold outside I didn't want to have to go out and buy another one! ******* and moaned to my friend about it then forgot all about it.

later that night while i was in bed I heard a noise in my room - like something moving on my dresser so I flicked my light on. There on my dresser - right at the front, was my de-odorant!

I was totally freaked out -but nothing else ever happened in that room

I have a pretty good one. I recently just started working my first "nursing career" job as a STNA while going through school to get my RN.

I work night shift in a skilled care facility and I absolutely love it. Most of the patients have some sort of dementia, Alzheimer's, sun-downers etc. but one of my patients is always very lucid and isn't known to say delusional (for lack of better word) things at night.

Anyways, I was beginning my first round by passing ice and sticking briefs when said patient calls me in his room. He usually never asks us for anything and is a really sweet man. I went in without turning on the lights because I thought maybe he was just dreaming. As I walked in I could see him laying in his bed with his eyes open looking at the corner of the ceiling. Although he can speak it's still hard to understand what he is saying sometimes because he mumbles and has a raspy voice. He points to the ceiling and says "tell that big black thing to stop biting me, damn thing bit my back!" So I look up (only light in the room is coming in from hallway) and I say "I don't hear or see a bug anywhere let me turn on the lights" and he says "he's right up there - (pointing to ceiling) - and he ain't no bug. And he lookin right atchu. Look out here he come, he comin right for you!" All I could do at that moment was take the mans advice and dart out of the room. My heart was pounding. As I ran out into the hall I ran smack into my coworker and told her what happened. We then both entered the room with lights on immediately after and asked him about the "bug" or "big black thing" on the ceiling. He showed us a spot on his back that looked red and irritated. He then said "he's gone now, he followed you out the door." Needless to say I was so freaked out for the rest of the night. The only logical explanation I have would be that maybe he was half asleep and a bug but him and he kinda dreamt it was something bigger and was in and out of sleep as he was talking to me. At least that's what I'd like to think!!

I have a lot more from work at the same place too that I've heard from coworkers, this particular one was just my own experience !! Eeeeek

Stocking briefs* not sticking lol

It took me QUITE AWHILE to get to the end of these. Finally reached the end and I'm sad... I love this thread...

Anybody else have have more to share?

Specializes in ICU.

I work PRN at a very small community hospital in their ICU. Everyone claims the hospital is haunted... maybe it is!

I was working in ICU alone the other night (total ICU census of two patients, so totally doable) when the monitor kept turning on in one of the empty rooms. The monitors can be turned on either at the desk or in the room, and they need to be touched in the room to be turned on. I've never had one come on by itself before. For the record, I had no tech, there were no other nurses around, and my patients were both totally out of it and not ambulatory. There were people over on med/surg, but they were separated from me by a door you have to use your badge to access, and I can hear when the doors unlock before someone comes through. I never heard the door unlock, so nobody could have snuck in without me noticing.

I spent half the night walking back in that room and turning the monitor off. It wouldn't come back on immediately, but usually within half an hour it would be active on the central monitoring again, like I (or someone else) had gone and manually turned it on. I was just annoyed that I had to keep walking back in there.

Honestly, I didn't even think about it at the time because I am about as spiritually aware as a rock, but looking back, I wonder if a former patient was trying to say hello. I haven't had any problems with the monitors coming on by themselves since then.

I am thinking I should invest in a tape recorder... maybe next time I'm there alone, I'll do an EVP session in that room. :)

CrystalMarieisme...this is not a ghost story but just a response to your post.

I am so terribly sorry for your loss. My sister had SJS and received horrible care (ironically at the hospital I work for). I watched her suffering day in and day out and it was excruciating. I am lucky in that she survived and fully recovered. I know on some level what you witnessed and know that you were of deep comfort to her. Let her be a comfort to you now.

My ghost story happened during my student years when I had one of my placements in a medsurg floor in an old hospital wing. I was just finishing off my evening shift and was on my way to the ladies change room. Some of my colleagues were already there, so I walked a long corridor to the change room. All of a sudden a notice a young boy run past me like he was being chased and it freaked me out bc he kinda startled me. So I watch as the boy run in towards the corner of the hall into the girls change room. I quickly ran to the room bc I mean there are all my nursing friends getting changed. As I got into the change room, I quickly asked my colleagues where the little boy went. They all just looked at me weirdly like I was crazy. I literally looked through each stall and bathroom but no trace of the boy. Even my friends were all freaked out. I even freaked myself out. I mean what would a little boy be doing in an old med surg floor at 11pm by a long dark hallway?

You all so so easily heebie-jeebied out.

I hope I get to hang around and be a ghost for a while after I kick the bucket. I'd have so much fun! I'll do things like make the ice machine suddenly dispense buckets of ice, open and close doors, make myself look like a big black blob on the ceiling, and make the printer spontaneously spew out multiple sheets of paper with the words "GETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT" printed all over it.

Specializes in Gerontology.

I always said I'd come back and haunt the hospital. I'd help the good nurses - calm agitated pts, help pts where I could. I'd hide the call bells on the pts that ring to have their water jugs moved 1 inch to the left.

For the bad, lazy ones, I'd sneak up behind them and put my icy hands on their necks. Or ran around ringing every call bell I could!

Specializes in Cardiac, ER, Pediatrics, Corrections.

This was a good laugh! Haha

Specializes in ICU.

If I come back as a hospital ghost, I want to do compressions. Can you imagine everyone standing around, hands off the patient for a rhythm check, and the patient's chest starts compressing by itself?

I wonder how many crash carts they'd need in the room after that... assuming anyone was still awake to fetch them. ;)

Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

I think I would just go bother some managers and a CEO or two...

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