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...

On my old unit, they used to care for terminal oncology patients. There is a story about an elderly, retired nurse who came to the unit years ago, named "Audrey". She stayed on the unit for some months before her death. She was reputed to be quite the matronly caregiver, always going the extra mile to comfort and console her patients. Now, facing her own demise, it was her devoted husband who would come and sit with her for hours on end. He would sit on the edge of her bed with one hand on her shoulder.

Not long after her passing, a surgical patient came to this particular room. From the very first night the nursing staff noted the patiet to be very restless. When making rounds the nurses would note that the light would always be on, despite having turned the lights out the last time through. When finally asked what the problem was, the patient seemed almost embarrassed. She said "I don't want you to think I'm crazy, but every time you turn the lights out, I get this feeling that someone else is in the room with me. Then I distinctly feel someone sit down on the bed next to me and place their hand on my shoulder...":eek:

Needless to say, the patient was moved to another room that very night.

Specializes in orthopaedics.

kind of a ghosty story here. last month my grandfather passed away after a breif battle with lung cancer. he worked most of his life to support his family was a man of his word, and served his country. years ago he was an alcoholic and not so good to my dad and his family. he quit drinking about 15 years ago and was a "changed" man. anyway my mom had called me about 1 am after he had passed away at home in his little scooter he got around in. i told her please open the window so his soul can go to heaven. right after i went outside to say a prayer for his soul and looked up at a beautiful stary sky. i asked god to guide his soul to heaven then i saw a shooting star. i thought it was pretty neat.

i work in a long term care unit at a retirement residence. it's very common for strange things to happen when one of the residents dies. usually, thier call bell will go off all night and others will go off when a patient doesn't even call for us. the residents get restless and so does the unit mascot cat. the residents start talking to ppl who aren't there and the t.v.'s will go on and off. and the "visitor at front door" will start to ring. we'll go and check it out and no one is there.

when i started there almost two years ago, i was a bit freaked out. now it's so common that i half expect it. there isn't much i can do about it except to say goodbye to the soul who passed on.

there was a previous post (or a few) about old nurses dying and caring for the ill even when they have died. i think that sounds very kewl and when i die and if i become a ghost, i'd like to care for the ill. sounds stupid to say that but....

i work in a long term care unit at a retirement residence. it's very common for strange things to happen when one of the residents dies. usually, thier call bell will go off all night and others will go off when a patient doesn't even call for us. the residents get restless and so does the unit mascot cat. the residents start talking to ppl who aren't there and the t.v.'s will go on and off. and the "visitor at front door" will start to ring. we'll go and check it out and no one is there.

when i started there almost two years ago, i was a bit freaked out. now it's so common that i half expect it. there isn't much i can do about it except to say goodbye to the soul who passed on.

there was a previous post (or a few) about old nurses dying and caring for the ill even when they have died. i think that sounds very kewl and when i die and if i become a ghost, i'd like to care for the ill. sounds stupid to say that but....

i was going to post this exact experience but i got distracted. i'll do it now. we had a patient in ltc who was known, with her room mate, as the "pee queens." they were on their lights all night needing to pee. one night one of them died and for about three hours after she died her light kept coming on, even after the body had been taken away. we would go turn it off and it would come back on within a few minutes, went on for hours.

Specializes in Psychiatry, Case Management, also OR/OB.

I know this story second hand from a nurse colleague of mine-- her brother-in-law had had a long course of treatment for melanoma. He was in the hospital, still getting intraperitoneal chemo, etc., but very ill. One day, he told the family "Susie and Grandpa came to see me last night." These were two family members who had previously died. Of course, everyone thought that couldn't be true. The patient told the nurses and family that they had told him it was not his time that day, but that they would come back for him tomorrow. Sure enough, he died the next day.

Morghan

I used to work on a med-surg unit. In this one room, whenever an elderly patient hallucinated, they would always ask me, " Why are all of these kids running around in here?" It gave me the chills............

Specializes in Med/surg;Labour&Delivery;Vascular unit;.

The stories on this "thread" re seeing "people" who aren't there seconds later or children turning on call bells in a hospital that used to be an orphanage..........interesting.!

If anyone has ever listen to the psychic Sylvia Brown......according to her, those that have "passed" but who haven't "gone to the other side......to the light"....hang around where they died and are not aware that they are dead. She says "the soul" continues to exist as energy.

Since most people believe there is life after death........this is one explanation for the phenominon described in this thread. AND because I haven't another explanation.....works for me!

Specializes in Acute care medical/Palliative.

hi everyone, i worked on a palliative care ward with two private rooms on each side of the nurses' station. only the very ill were in those rooms, often with days or hours to live as most of you well know.

i had two seperate patients, on two seperate occasions say that they saw a blonde woman standing in the doorway behind me, there wasn't anyone there! now granted, both of these patients were on morph but they were pertrified after seeing this woman who they both described with the same discription. i asked the other nurses if they recalled a certain patient who may have died in that specific room, but none had personally recalled having a blonde woman around 30 having passed away in that room.

the room number was 719. that hospital has since been converted into a stylish retirement home after 90 yrs of memories as a general hospital.

i wonder if the ghost of this blonde woman is still there?

Specializes in Ortho, Peds, ER, MS.

I worked as a ped nurse in a childrens hospital in Ga. We get very close to our chronically ill children. There was one boy I was giving care to who had ALL and had slipped out of remission. He was doing well with his therapy for the most part, no unexpected complications. One morning our CNA came to me after taking his vs and told me to check on him "He's not acting quite right". As I assess him and ask how he is feeling he states "I'm alright!! I'm doing great! I want to see my aunt. She is the worlds GREATEST auntie!!" His belly was largely distended and hard as it could be for his little body. His o2 sat was 79%. I asked him if he hurt? he replied "I'm alright!!! I'm not going to hurt anymore! I talked to Jesus last night and he said everything is just fine!" My heart sank, we all know what that means. His mother called his aunt and he introduced us all to her and then told the story of his visit from Jesus again. There was a chair beside the bed that he said he sat in. We CT'd the belly and chest and found the chest whited out. He was moved to PICU and ventilated. All the while "He was FINE!". He died about 1 week later from ARDS. It's comforting to know Jesus came to see him and help him over the way. Religiously I've not been quite the same.

Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Hemodialysis.

I'm still chugging away at my pre-req's but I thought I'd share a few things.

My husband's Uncle passed away this summer. He hadn't been in the best of health for a few months and he ended up with pneumonia and began spiralling down from there. On a Monday his wife was sitting next to his bed holding hands with him and talking. He told her that he wouldn't be around much longer. She asked him who had told him that and all he did was take his index finger and point upward. He passed away peacefully two days later.

My CNA instructor had several stories of caring for people prior to their passing. One story sticks out in my mind. Her pt was a dear friend that she had known for several years. The pt had ca and was receiving comfort care. My instructor was in the room with her and the the pt sat up with a beautiful smile and asked my instructor if she had ever heard such lovely singing before. There of course was no one singing on the floor, no loud radios, and no tv's. The pt died just a few days later.

One of my dearest friend's in high school once told me the story of the angels. My friend had a brother that was 10 years older than she was and an older sister that would have been 12 years older than she was, we'll call the older sister Pat. Church had just dismissed and Pat exited the church via the basement stairs, which was unusual for her, any way the wind caught ahold of her Sunday school artwork and blew it into the road and sadly enough Pat went to fetch it and was hit by a passing car. The night of Pat's funeral her mother heard her son talking to someone in his room so she checked on him and he was alone. She sat down and he told her that he was sad because the angels wouldn't be back anymore. Upon further questioning he said that the angels had been visiting him and Pat for quite some time now. The told Pat of her future and that she wouldn't suffer and their last visit the night of the funeral was to assure him that Pat didn't suffer and that they would no longer be visiting but to know that his sister was in good hands.

Specializes in LTC.

I have a interesting story! I was working one evening passing medications down a hall in a LTC facility. One of my patients phone was ringing and it keep ringing for maybe 10 rings or more I was wondering why the patient didn't answer the phone. I was going to go in the room but I was really busy and thought she might be in the bathroom. I knew she was in the room. I keep thinking answer the phone. Finally the phone just wouldn't stop ringing and I went in to answer the phone. Well it wasn't her phone after all it was the roommate who was out on pass. I answered the phone and it was one of my patients in another room. They all had private number so no room to room callling.They had to provide their own phones This man ask for the person he was calling and I recongized the voice and said Patrick you have called the wrong number and which he said the number, which was not even in the area prefix. As I was talking to him I looked over and saw the lady patient in bed, she looked dead. I hung up quickly. She was a full code and CPR was started. She later died at the hospital. What was the chances of this man calling a wrong number in the room this patient was dying in? Of all the numbers he could have called by mistake. It was like I was suppose to go in that room. This was really weird. Now if a phone is ringing and no one is answering it I go and look in the room. Weird things happen all the time!

Ok, I have one but I haven't witnessed it myself yet. I have to work tonight, so maybe I'll see it. We had an elderly lady with ESRD and was hospice appropriate. She was going down hill and passed away without incident. She didn't have any children of her own and all of her brothers and sisters were already gone. Anyway... she passed about 4 or 5 months ago and now on our monitors in the nurses station you can see a little old lady sitting in the hallway reading a book on the sofa. Everyone swears she's never there during the day, but once night starts you can see her sitting there. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm waiting! The Nurses sent a CNA down there to check to see if she could see anything, but nothng was there although she continued to show up on the monitor. Everyone agrees that it is this same little sweet lady that had no family. When I see her, I'll be sure to follow up and let you all know about it.

+ Join the Discussion