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...

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

One more cool story

A friend of mine named Libby had a mother in law who was an extremely heavy smoker, like 2PPD. Well, she died, not unexpectedly, of lung cancer.

A few weeks after her death, Libby was driving and smelled the distinct stench of cigarettes being smoked in her car. She has never smoked a cigarette in her life and hated the smell.

She could even SEE the smoke. So she looked back in the rearview mirror and saw the mother in law....then she was gone. Not a word spoken.

It happened a few times and Libby asked me what she could want. I said "she wants to know her son is ok, and that all is right in the world, so she can rest". So the next time Libby smelled smoke in her car, she told her MIL what I said.

That was the last time she ever experienced this phenomenon. I believe Libby. She has no reason to lie.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

OK one more:

Had friend named Janine who had given birth to her 5th child without a single complication. She was in recovery, holding her baby, when all of a sudden, she felt SOB and very dizzy and sick.

She handed the baby to her concerned husband, and said "GET A NURSE; I feel like I am suffocating!" The nurse came, and pulled back the covers and a RIVER of blood flowed from under her to the floor, in torrents.

They rushed her to the OR and had to do an emergency hysterectomy, d/t placenta accreta (the placenta had not been delivered fully and this causes severe hemorrhaging). It was too late for a D/C; she was too far gone.

When they took her back, Janine remember being unable to see or hear well. In the OR, she was unable to hear, but could see clearly. She looked in the corner and saw a lady in street clothes; not anyone she had ever seen before.

Janine remembered praying to God not to take her from her babies, but if he must, to help her husband raise her kids without a mom. The lady then said in a voice Janine could hear, "go back, it's not your time yet" Her lips were not moving at all, but it was like she could still hear a voice.

The next thing Janine remembers is waking up in the ICU, intubated and in severe pain. When they took the tube out and she could talk, she asked who the woman in street clothes was, in the OR. They staff looked very puzzled and told her there was no one, but she HAD coded on the table, and they had to do full code blue to get her back. She had lost almost all her blood volume in the hemorrhage, needing many transfusions to survive.

But survive she did, and to this day, her whole outlook on life/the afterlife and the joy of everyday living has changed. She lives each day like it's her last and holds no grudges. She swears she "saw the light" and I believe her.

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.

Sadly just because we "believe " in something it doesn't make it true. Nevertheless if it brings you comfort then by all means believe away just don't attack the skeptics :-)

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

You really ARE being a wet blanket, bordering on trolling. Maybe another thread is more to your liking, Liberated. Obviously this is all a bunch of "junk" to you. Let's just agree to disagree and I will read the stories here with an open heart. You approach them how you feel you must. But maybe, just maybe, be more thoughtful and let people have their say without negating every story. Can we do that?

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.
You really ARE being a wet blanket, bordering on trolling. Maybe another thread is more to your liking, Liberated. Obviously this is all a bunch of "junk" to you. Let's just agree to disagree and I will read the stories here with an open heart. You approach them how you feel you must. But maybe, just maybe, be more thoughtful and let people have their say without negating every story. Can we do that?

Yes I can, just save the personal attacks, I'm merely keeping the thread honest

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

No personal attacks; just observation. This thread may be fantasy to you, but it's real to some of us. And I am being very honest.

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.

OK I'll leave you guys be, sorry is just that blunt lies and exaggerations annoy me. Nevertheless I am meddling in your business. I'm done here, carry on.

When I was a new nurse, I was assigned to sit with a patient that was dying and monitor his vital signs until he passed. He was a "No Code" and had no family. I sat with him and talked quietly to him and monitored his vital signs frequently. The moment he passed away I could see the gleam slowly fade in his eyes and I saw a mist raise out of the top of his head and move toward the ceiling. I know this must be the spirit leaving the body. I was not afraid, but wondered about what I had just experienced. I have been a Nurse for almost 30 years and have never experienced this again.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
liberated847 said:
OK I'll leave you guys be, sorry is just that blunt lies and exaggerations annoy me. Nevertheless I am meddling in your business. I'm done here, carry on.

Since you're so annoyed, it really is best that you leave. Personally I tend to avoid threads that annoy me. Not sure why you've hung around.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Keep them coming!

This didn't take place in a hospital but is relevant. My father had lung cancer and was in hospice at a care facility back in 2003. He was not expected to live much longer and being several states away I had made plans to go see him before he passed. My brother who lived in the same area was visiting him almost daily and keeping me up to date. One night I had a very vivid dream (or so I thought) that I woke up with my father sitting at the end of my bed and talking to me, telling me how proud he was of me and how I was living my life. When I woke up the next morning I could remember the whole experience very clearly and called my brother to ask if my father had passed away. He said no, that he was still hanging on but doing no better. I thought it must have just been a dream at that point yet it still remains in my head very clearly 11 years later. A few days after this dream my father did pass before I was able to fly out and see him. To this day I still believe his soul left his body prior to his passing and he visited me knowing I would not be making it in time to see him. In some ways I am glad I never saw him as he was dying as the images I have of him are all when he was healthy. A few years ago I was working on a project in the garage and could not find a tool that I needed. My father had always been proud of my mechanical abilities and I said out loud "Dad, could you help me find the tool I need". I know it sounds weird but that tool appeared on a shelf that I had looked at several times and I feel he was with me at the moment and helped me by producing that tool. Thanks for reading.

JessicaWilliams said:
I'm sorry, but how in the world does a pre-school aged boy know how to hang himself on purpose?

As a long time psych nurse I can say this happens. We admit kids as young as 5 some of whom have already attempted suicide:( Glad this worked out the way it did.

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