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...

[nursesarah]

i'm convinced one elevator in my hospital is haunted. every single time you ride it, up or down, it always stops on the third floor (where the OR is). even is there's no one waiting to get on and no one has pushed the button for the third floor, it will stop. kinda creepy.

[goats'r'us, ASN, RN]

funny, i read the first 65 pages of this a while ago, and felt nothing but interest.

i just looked up my last post and then read from there, and have got the spookiest feeling now, like i'm being watched.

a few things.. sorry, i can't remember poster's names, so i can only refer by story:

the story about your grandfather dying and you seeing a shooting star - that's a wonderful story and a brilliant way for you to know that he's all right. i got a really warm, happy feeling reading that, so thankyou for sharing it.

the story about the red bracelets - that is the scariest thing i've ever heard, and just thinking about it to write this is giving me serious icy chills, and i know without a doubt that i won't be sleeping tonight.

[MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN]

I heard this story from a friend of mine, who is also a fellow nursing student but from another university. One night, while they were on a night shift, a 9-year-old female child unfortunately died in the Pedia Ward. My friend was the one assigned to perform post-mortem care to the said patient. So there he was, cleaning the patient's body and all. He placed a red bracelet in the patient's right hand, as it was the policy of the hospital to place a red tag on the right hand of all patients who are pronounced dead. After performing his tasks, he was on his way to the elevator when suddenly, the little girl came running after him! Terrified, he quickly pushed the close button so that the elevator would close right away and bring him to safety down to the lower floor.

While inside the elevator, an old woman in hospital gown asked him why he closed the elevator door right away when a child wanted to board in. Still overwhelmed with fear, he explained to the old lady "That was the child that I just performed post-mortem care a while ago. She is already dead. Did you saw the red tag on her right arm? That is the mark for all dead patients here in this hospital..." The old woman raised her right arm and replied... "Similar to this?"

My friend was found unconcious inside the elevator a few moments later. He never stepped inside the said hospital again. Ever.

Brrrrrr......

When I regained consciousness, I probably would have had to change my pants, if you know what I mean.........

[XYRNMN]

I work Med/Surg, and about 3-4 years ago I had a pt in her 50's that came in with abd pn and constipation, went for an exlap.

Well, the case was open & shut, once they got in there they saw so much cancer they just closed the incision. Nothing was resectable.

Anyway, I got her straight from PACU into room 26, she was still stuporous and the surgeon had not yet informed her of the situation. No family was around, and no visitors came during my shift.

I got her at about 8pm, the strange incident took place about 2-3 am.

I entered the room to do VS rounds, and she was sobbing.

I asked her if she was in pain, she denied pain but said that "the other nurse just told me my surgery didn't go very well and I don't have long to live".

I just about blew my top, I was livid, I wanted to find out whointhehell had told my patient about the surgery, that is the surgeon's responsibility, not nrsg.

After calming my pt somewhat, I asked her what the 'nurse' looked like that had told her of the prognosis.

She described a nurse with a white hat, the white uniform with white stockings and everything down to hair color and height.

Well, on my floor there were only 5-6 of us working that night, and none fit the description even remotely. (And the only nurse I know of that still wears that sort of uniform works days in a different unit.)

My pt went on to tell me that this nurse in white sat at the edge of her bed, and sure enough, the foot of the bed and the sheets looked exactly like someone had been sitting there moments before.

This pt's room is also at the end of the hall, with no door at the end, so the only way anyone could have gone to that room was to pass the nurses station and be seen. Noone had gone by.

Fast forward to a year ago, and another pt in 26 told one of the other night RN's that a nurse in white kept coming in to check the IV's.

I had not told that RN my story, and that RN was hired after my experience.

Then, about a month ago, one of the RN's came down to the nurses station and asked who had room 26. The nurse that had that room spoke up and wondered what's up? The first nurse said there was a lady sobbing in there and she heard it from the hall, but did not look in. Instead she came to ask 26's nurse if she knew what the deal was. Well, 26's nurse said that there was an elderly MAN in that room, not a woman. At that point we all went down and went into 26. The man was sleeping quietly, the TV and radio were off, and when we awoke the man, he denied pain, so I doubt he was whimpering in his sleep, certainly not sobbing as the first nurse heard.

So, this is three seperate wierd happenings in one room, all experienced by three seperate nurses that were previously unaware of the other instances.

Kinda prickles the hair on the back of my neck just thinking back on it all.

-K

[CanadianNurseAbroad]

Hey there I have a few ghost stories, some that I have experienced, some I have been told first hand, and others handed down through time. I will start off with my favourite. It is one of the historical stories which is more than likely a romantic fancy, but all the same passes the time on night shift well.

While I was doing my training I worked as a Nurse's Aide at a centre for children with mental and physical disabilities, I was told this story one night shift by a nurse who had worked with a nurse who had been at the centre for years.

St. Helens (*name changed as I don't know the legal ins and outs of naming an orginazation in print) Centre originally started life as a TB sanitorium. St. Helens is an impressive old brick building, nestled into a parklike expanse of nature and to this day remains run by the Catholic curch. It was built several kilometers outside of the city limits to prevent the spread of the devestating disease. On many of the walls of the current centre hang photos of a bygone era prior to the inverntion of Streptomycin, of nursing sisters in full habit tending to paitents in iron lungs, or taking the stronger patients into the "good air" of the Canadian praries as a form of treatment. From what I understand, when a person was diagnosed with TB in those days they were required by law to recieve treatment in the sanitorium which meant several months, if not years of confinement in many cases against the patient's will. Some patients unhappy with thier involuntary admission would attempt to escape back to the city and to their loved ones. The Sisters at St Helen's attempted to dissuade such actions by doing an hourly round of the perimeter of the grounds to search for patients or any sign of patients attempting to escape.

After the revolutionary discovery of streptomycin the numbers of patients with TB dropped significantly and sanitoriums rapidly became obsolete. As a result St. Helens was facing closure due to declining numbers of patients. The Catholic Church managed to identify a need in the community for a centre for the care of children suffereing from severe mental and physical disabilites. As the population of the patients in the centre had changed, the need to carry out an hourly round of the grounds ceased to exist. Over the years the number of nursing sisters declined and nurses and nurse's aides from the public sector were brought in to fill the empty posts. It was at this time the nurse who told this tale began working at the centre.

Shortly after she started started working at St. Helens the new nurse had a disturbing encounter. She was working nightshift one evening and had to walk over to another ward to collect some supplies that her home ward was short of. She stepped off the lift into the dark corridor, desperately trying to remeber the directions given to her by a fellow nurse. As she turned a corner in the hall she encountered one of the Nursing Sisters walking away from her further up the way. Relieved to see someone who would surely know the where the nurse needed to go, she called out to the sister and quickened her pace to catch up. As she ran to catch up to the Sister, the nurse thought that she could see a dim red glow coming from under the sister's dress and from the openings of the sleeves but thought perhaps it was her eyes adjusting to the change in the light. The nun never slowed or acknowledged hearing the nurse's call and soon turned a corner. Still in hot persuit the nurse rounded the corner into a silent empty corridor. There were no doorways in that hallway, only a flight of stairs to the block of wards where the nurse was headed. There was no way the nun could have made the distance in the few seconds it took the nurse to reach the corner, and there were no sound of anyone on the stairs.

The nurse assumed that her eyes were playing tricks on her and didn't make too much of it, until a few weeks later when she was on night shift again. It was well into the night and the nurse was doing her hourly breathcheck. She entered one of her charges room's and was checking that everything was ok. She noticed that she had forgotten to close the patient's drapes, she remembered thinking it wasn't an issue at the moment as there was no moon that night, but that when morning came the sun would beam in and possibly disturb her patient's sleep. She moved across the room to close the curtains, and was about to pull them shut when she noticed a red light in the distance. At that time the Centre was still out of the city, (it has since been engulfed by urban sprall) and therefore there shouldn't be anyone on the grounds. As she peered into the night she could see the light was slowly making its way along the end of the feild along the border between the hosptial grounds and the forest surrounded it. Knowing that no one should be out on the grounds at that hour of the night the nurses headed out to the desk to phone the sister in charge. The Nurse's aide at the desk stopped the nurse from placing the calll after she had heard story recounted. The aides response was not one of concern, but instead one of calm. She explained that one of the old nuns had dedicated her life to the care of the TB Patients and had drowned when she had persued an patient who tried to escape by swimming accross a river just off the hosptial grounds. Since that time she had been seen throughout the hospital walking the corridors, and every so often she had been seen doing the hourly rounds of the grounds. Apparently you she always faces away from the people who see her, and she a red light glows from the openings in her habit.

As I said before, I don't know how true this was, as much as I would have loved to I never did see her. It does make for a cool story though. What do you think?

Hope you enjoyed it.

Pete

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

Okay, not my story, but something my sister witnessed when she was a med student at a level one trauma facility. Guy comes in from a MVA, motorcycle vs. truck, she said he was a "Waffle House hashbrown" -- sliced, diced, and chunked. The guy is able to talk at the beginning, drunk, cussing the nurses and docs trying to help him, not a nice guy. The end up intubating the guy to preserve the airway and the guy's going down hill fast. He codes, but they manage to bring him back.

Suddenly, the guy comes completely to, rips out his tube(!), grabs my sister's hand, and lets out this breathy little scream, "Don't let me die, I'm going to hell. Please don't let me die!" This freaks out everyone, including my sister. The guy says he "woke up" in hell, on fire, and keeps begging someone to check his feet for burns...nobody could believe he pulled out his tube and was talking....

Despite everything they did, the guy still died. My sister said they were all freaked out about it for weeks....

[maryloufu]

Wow, a ghost that can physically give meds, that's pretty good!

At my hospital they would probably count her in staffing.

Um. Please excuse me- I posted this in reply to a post that is waaaay back there.

[Nurset1981]

OK this totally creeped me out. I worked at a small privately owned nursing home. Alot of the patients had been there a long time. Naturally I was silly enough to take the night shift for two weeks right out of school to cover the night nurse who was ill. This place had these old hallway lights that you had to stick a paper clip in this slot on the wall to turn them on and off (real safe right). There was one at each end of the main hallway. I carried the paper clip on my keyring. So there I am one night, I come in at 11 take report, set up supplies etc. I shut out the lights. The only light is from the lamp on my desk and the eerily red exit sign that cast this red wash all over the walls...reminding me of that scene in Halloween II where Laurie Strode is trying to escape from Myers in the hospital . Anyway I'm standing at the med cart stocking med cups and I feel a whoosh of air. Its winter and no widows are open. I hear a rustling sound and think that its the resident in #3 who is restless sometimes at night. His room is about 6 feet from the med cart. Now, being the brave nurse I am lol I decide to check to make sure he's not trying to get out of bed. I go over to his room and find that he's sound asleep. I do a bed check and everyone is sleeping and accounted for. The CNA is in the tv room doing flow sheets. I continue on with stocking. A little while later I hear the noise again and this time see a figure out of my peripheral vision(they say spirits present themselves in your peripheral vision) pass by me into room 3. This time I'm not so brave. I take the CNA in with me who now thinks I'm nuts. We creep into the room and find the patient sitting up in bed having a conversation with someone who isn't in the room. When I ask him who he is talking to he tells me the man who is sitting in the chair in the corner. Naturally theres no one in the chair. The aide and I settle him down and leave the room. At report the next morning I'm telling the nurse about what happened, Before I could say who they pt was talking to she said "the man sitting in the chair in the corner right?" Creepy! Later I had talked to the usual night nurse who said it happened all the time when she was on. More than one patient had the same experience. I never did get the name of the mysterious man in the corner. In any case that was the end of my night shift stint.

P.S. Those stupid lights inthe hall used to flicker on and off all the time. Maybe it was the man in the corner..or just old electrical wiring lol

PPS..ever get locked in a basement supply closet when you are the only one with the key? yikes!

[Nurset1981]

OK this is a little off the subject...When I was 13 my nana dies of cancer that started in her shoulder and mets to the lymph nodes and lungs. My parents had built an in law apartment for her that was attached to our house in 1986 (I live in it with my fiance at the moment). Anyway, she died in July early in the evening with her mother and sisters and kids and grandkids all around her. My sister and I cleaned her up and did post mortem care. I went into my parents house and was drinking a glass of water while leaning against the sink. You can see through the hallway into the living room, the door to the apartment is in the living room. I saw my grandfather pass by toward the door. My grandfather died in Januray of 1985. He paused and smiled at me. I always thought that he was comming to get her to taker her to heaven. I live across the street from a the cemetary and can see their grave from my front porch.

Nana still comes around the apartment once in a while. I have a few black and white pictures of her and papa and sometimes when I come home they'll be flipped. She'll turn on lights or the faucet sometimes. She's just letting me know shes here.

[RNAnnjeh, MSN, CNS]

I was looking after a pediatric patient who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. One night, he was especially restless and irritable and could not be consoled. I was worried that his intracranial pressure was rising, and had the resident at the bedside with me for pretty much the entire shift. The charge nurse relieved me for my break and told me to go lay down for a short nap (it was OK for night nurses to nap in this facility). As I gathered some blankets and stretched out on the cot, I heard a voice say "why aren't you watching him?". I jumped off the cot and ran into the patients room just in time to see his HR drop into the 40s. The nurse relieving me had stepped out of the room to answer a call bell. Needless to say, I refused to leave his side, had the resident move into the room with me, and he went for a VP shunt first thing the next morning.

[Nurset1981]

I live just north of Boston. About 3 miles from me in Danvers, MA there is an old state hospital with a very very lengthy history. It was built in the late 1800's as a mental hospital that housed patients with every mental illness you can imagine. Unfortunately alot of the patients were teenagers whose parents dumped them there with "failure to socialize" and silly things like that..most likely they were just teenagers. The began doing lobodomies, shock therapy and water therapy, along with some procedures that were not even remotely acceptable. We all know what mental health was like in the 1900's, non existent. There was a lot of abuse that went on there. If you look at a picture of Danvers State from the air it looks like a bat. The wards that were furthest away form the main building housed the extreme patients. I have heard more creepy stories from nurses who worked there (including my dad who trained there in nursing school in 74). It closed in 86 and remained empty and in disrepair until this year. Kids used to party up there and there was a few incidents of cult worship going on there too. Google it and you will be freaked out! Anyway, two stories related.

Danvers state was heavily patrolled and guarded since the early 90's I can't say how I was able to go up there but I did with 2 other people. It is a sprawling place on many acres of farmland (it was a "self contained city" had its own everything) I had been wanting to see it up close for years, and I finally got the chance. WE parked in front of the main entrance. I got out of the car and walked up to the front door. It was sort of open so we pushed it open all the way. I saw a long corridor with the creepiest wheelchair I have ever seen. I suddenly had the most intense feeling of dread come over me. I felt like I was rooted to the ground. I heard a voice say "get out'. You can bet my butt was back in that car as fast as my legs would carry me. I refused to go in and look around (which I get razzed about all the time because all kids that grew up around here try to get into danvers state). I went to work the day after and was getting sheets out of the linen closet. Its not uncommon to have sheets marked with area hospitals names on them, they come back with the patients. I pull out a sheet and take it in to make a bed. I flip it open and don't you nkow it has "PROPERTY OF DANVERS STATE" printed on it. I put it in a bio bag and threw it out with the hazmat!

I had a patient who was at danvers state until 1986 when they closed. She never left the nursing home I worked at out of fear we would send her back. She would flip if you tried to send her to the doc or for tests or what have you. The only time she went out of the building was the day she died.

When it closed in 86 a lot of patients were just released with no place to go. Courtest of budget cuts, so alot of them just kinda migrated back there and lived together until they were forced out. Theres a lot of info on and it in 2004 a movie was filmed there called "Session 9" if you want the scare of your life rent it! It is seriously one of the best movies ever. David Caruso is in it. Anyway, look it up and read up on it..theres a lot more to the story..oh by the way we tried to save it as it is a historical site but a big wig company bought it and now its being renovated into conds...maybe I'll buy one.

[akmagnolia]

I was working Christmas Eve a couple of years ago (my hospital used to be the state sanitarium) and caring for a womean that had experienced a TIA. Between hourly neuro checks the tv monitor to her room began to get really crazy, white stripes marching sideways, diagnol, and the screen began to jump up and down. I could still see her from the nurses station, so I didn't get too concerned. At her next hourly neuro check, she woke and said, "Oh, I was just sure that my husband had been in her holding me and talking to me. He died 4 years ago and that is the first time that I have experienced anything like that." The interference with the monitor stopped after that. I still feel bad for ruining her time with him.