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...

[CFitzRN, ADN]

I'm pretty sure I posted this somewhere in this thread, but in case it was missed, I believe I encountered a patient that was, at the very least, influenced by a demonic entity or possessed. As a nursing student doing one of my first clinicals (I think it actually was my first if I recall correctly), I showed up at the step-down unit and the nurse employees giggled when I got there. I asked what was funny, and the charge nurse said "oh, your assigned patient is interesting" or something to that effect. I looked at his chart and he was described as having borderline personality disorder. I was actually a little intrigued, as psych nursing was something I'd been interested in, although he wasn't admitted for that. Upon entering his room, he looked at me, narrowed his eyes, and said "oh, you're Catholic..." From my limited understanding of demons, they react most negatively to Catholic clergy and laity. I smiled at him and said "yes I am. How did you know that?" He claimed it was due to the cross necklace I had - which makes no sense because I don't wear a classic crucifix - I wear a Celtic cross. I could have been any Christian denomination. That was an interesting day, to say the least. He continued to make comments about me that he couldn't possibly have known. I made it through fairly unscathed though, I'm glad to say, and didn't have him as a patient again.

[Atlas15]

Thank you to everyone for sharing your various experiences. It has been enriching to read through each of them.

I would like to share a story that doesn't fit the "ghost story" category, but will fit in to the spiritual theme this thread has also adopted.

I apologize that I cannot quite keep up with all of the medical knowledge/terminology most of this community is well-versed in. I am very new to the medical field...

(thank you for your patience and understanding)

One of my very best friends growing up had a sister born with Cerebral Palsy. She was severely disabled physically and mentally, completely dependent on her caregiver. She could not speak, but could laugh. My friend lived in a very old country home that had been added onto. Her room was one of the add-ons, and you had to walk through her sister's room to get to it. Most days, her sister would sleep in like any other teenager (she was several years older than us). However, without fail, any time I stayed over on a Saturday night, my friend and I would be woken up bright and early on Sunday morning from her sister in the next room laughing hysterically. Her sister would seemingly trace things with her eyes across her ceiling from her electric bed, and would simply be elated and amused by whatever she was "seeing(?)" every single Sunday morning. Her family, being religious, simply chalked it up to, "Angels visit her on Sunday". I, growing up in a non-religious setting (not Atheist, just not practicing any religion), was intrigued by this explanation. How exceptional that a person whom you may figure has a low quality of life was potentially aware of a realm in which the able-bodied may never fully experience...

[AspiringNurseMW]

Really mild story, but I was doing my clinical rotation on the general med surg floor of a local hospital. Apparently one wing has a lot of stories. This happened before I knew about those stories...

I was priming IV tubing for a piggyback over the sink in my patient's room. Her nurse and husband were also in the room. All of a sudden we hear water running. Confused, the nurse looks at me but sees I'm not using the sink. She asks the patient and her husband if they have a guest in their bathroom to which they say no. I go in the bathroom and the shower is running, with no one having been in there. I reach for the handle to see if I can turn off the water, but just before I touch it, it turned off by itself!! Totally weirded us out, even the patient.

When we get to the nurses station and tell the charge nurse, I learned it's very common for that room and a few rooms around it to be subject of paranormal activities like that.

[Maria425]

I've seen the black shadow thing before too!! Always with dying patients. This one lady kept de-satting in her sleep suddenly and every time the alarm went off that shadow thing was there.

[Cheyenne RN,BSHS]

I have several but will share this one. Our security system has video cameras all over our hospital and the 2 office building attached to our hospital. The guard was a friend of mine back in the day when we could take smoke breaks and she came and got me one day and said I "had" to go with her to see what the camera had taped during the night. The video was playing and then you see in this empty hallway the perfect outline of a young woman in a long floor length night gown holding a baby in her arms and she walks out of one wall, across the hallway and into the other wall. We freeze frame the picture and there the outline is, looking all like a cloud or mist. You can see it is a lady with a baby. She doesn't really freak us out, she has a comforting feel about her. Come to find out back when our facility did deliver babies it was in that office building according to some of the old timers. They said there was a young mother whose baby was stillborn and there were complications and she died the next day. They didn't let the momma's see their dead babies back then and she cried and cried. It was rumored she could be seen in the hallway of the old baby wing searching for her baby and you would hear crying and then it would stop when she found her baby and she would hold him and seem to rock him in her arms and walk off humming to him. I have the still photo somewhere on disc. There were other pictures that showed up like that with a snap shot and someone standing in the background that was not really physically present.

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

Cheyenne RN,BSHS said:

I have several but will share this one. Our security system has video cameras all over our hospital and the 2 office building attached to our hospital. The guard was a friend of mine back in the day when we could take smoke breaks and she came and got me one day and said I "had" to go with her to see what the camera had taped during the night. The video was playing and then you see in this empty hallway the perfect outline of a young woman in a long floor length night gown holding a baby in her arms and she walks out of one wall, across the hallway and into the other wall. We freeze frame the picture and there the outline is, looking all like a cloud or mist. You can see it is a lady with a baby. She doesn't really freak us out, she has a comforting feel about her. Come to find out back when our facility did deliver babies it was in that office building according to some of the old timers. They said there was a young mother whose baby was stillborn and there were complications and she died the next day. They didn't let the momma's see their dead babies back then and she cried and cried. It was rumored she could be seen in the hallway of the old baby wing searching for her baby and you would hear crying and then it would stop when she found her baby and she would hold him and seem to rock him in her arms and walk off humming to him. I have the still photo somewhere on disc. There were other pictures that showed up like that with a snap shot and someone standing in the background that was not really physically present.

If you can find the old pictures I'd LOVE to see them!

[Tiffofirechick]

At my current hospital, the original building has been turned into mainly admin with 2 patient care areas. When I worked over there and would come in super early, often the elevator would open for me so I could walk in and push the button to go up to my floor.

Problem is, those elevators don't have pressure sensors and are older than I am. Plus, I didn't even touch the up or down button. And I was always by myself when it happened. When I asked my friend in security about it he just got a sheepish grin. He knew others had the same unseen presence providing the same kindness. I just started saying "thank you" out loud when it happened. (It was usually when I was in a rush or had a big project so I appreciated the support.)

So, I got a promotion and moved to the other side of the hospital. The person who took my place very hesitantly asked me this week: "Did the **** building elevators ever just start opening for you when you came into work in the morning?" I just smiled.

[largeangel]

I have seen a few things, and I am really loving this thread! One of the first things I saw happened to me back when I first graduated from nursing school back in 1994. I was working graveyard shift with an LPN who actually was showing me the ropes, although I was over her. The hospital I worked at was an OLD psychiatric facility, and the unit I worked on was a big, open room with curtain dividers for privacy, although those were hardly ever pulled, at first. You could stand at the front of the ward and see all the patients at one glance. At the far end of the room were the more rowdy of the group of patients, they would reach and grab you if they could. It was a little darker back at that end of the room. One night, I was sitting at the desk, and I looked up just in time to see what looked like a patient going from a squatting position to a standing position. The figure was all black, and once it stood up, it moved to my left towards the corner of the room, and into the wall. I asked my LPN if she had seen it, and she just looked at me and smiled. She said, "you will get used to it". After that, I tried to avoid staring at the back of the ward. I was afraid of what I might see!

[StrwbryblndRN]

The elevators at my work do that for me too. It was not all the time but enough to make you wonder. I say "Thank You" out loud too.

[Toastedpeanut]

I've been reading these for days & holding out. I'm gonna explode if I don't share.

Before I became a nurse I worked at an ante-bellum garrison on the Mississippi River. I think construction on the place began in the late 1700's. It was once used as a military hospital, and the engineers found buried Indian remains twice, along with a group of buried horse bones. We knew the history tied to this, it wasn't a legend or myth or anything. Back in January of 1815 & the time around then, everybody in this part of the country banded together to stave off a final attempt by the British to take America via Lake Borgne & the Mississippi. A lot of the people who fought for the cause were Indians from the families who lived there long before post was set up. The bones that were found belonged to some of these families, so we involved the local tribe in the repatriation and general handling of these remains. The horses had been shot and buried by their owner, (who was either depressed or insane, I'm not clear which). Right after he slaughtered his horses & buried them, he hung himself. This was on the back part of the post, right by one of the canals that busted during Hurricane Katrina.

I was sitting in my tiny office one day during a bad storm. This was right after the hurricanes flooded the post. Most of the employees were moved up river to another facility, as for now the repairs would have to be done- and it would take years. Well it was a holiday, but I didn't have the day off because I had just started working & hadn't accrued any time. I thought I was the only one in the building, but I heard somebody running up the stairs & breathing hard. The halls were dark & I was enjoying the sounds of the storm, but I went out into the hall to see if I could help, and there was nobody there. I knew what it was...

You can just feel it all around you whenever you're walking around the post. I called the MP at the gate & he said everybody had gone home early. The longer I worked there, the more history I learned. There was a late 20-something female who had hung herself in the tree on the front lawn of one of the buildings. The tree is still there today. I don't think the one with the heavy breathing was female though. One of the wives told me in the ante-bellum house where they lived before the storm, there was a resident ghost. It's just something even visitors accepted. A lot of officers rented out rooms in the two remaining towers, and they'd be woken in the middle of the night to the sound of armies marching. Nobody made a big deal though, because what can you do?

Here are some old pictures of the post buildings:

I grew up & went to elementary school right across the river from this (the school was torn down in 1998 & made into a suburb - yuck!)... well part of this battle took place on the school grounds. You can still see the trench from google Earth. We found some musket balls/bullets, and other remnants from this period in time.

Another story: When I was 8 years old, I was lying in bed at night, trying to fall asleep. I didn't have a nightlight on, but my eyes had already adjusted to the dark, & there was a touch of moonlight coming through my window. I could see an ashen face in the hallway looking at me, kind of like she was peaking at me from the hallway. I thought it was my mom, so I called out Mama? Nothing. She didn't change facial expression, didn't move, nothing just kept staring and smiling at me. Well I got so scared that I froze! After the minutes wore on, I gradually pressed my back against the wall & slid into the crack between my bed & wall. I mean, I didn't wanna close my eyes for a second ‘cause I was scared she would be before my eyes in a flash. Somehow I managed to fall asleep after what seemed like hours. The next day I asked my mom if she'd watched me from the hallway & she said no. I remember feeling like I was mad at my parents for making me sleep in a house with a ghost, but I let it pass. Well one year later I was going through old photos with my mom & grandma, & I came across a photo from the 1910's or so. I told them, This is the lady who was staring at me from the hallway that time. My mom looked at my grandmother in a shocked way. I had never seen this lady before, but they told me then & there, This was your great-grandmother. She died in 1950. We never really talked about it much, because again: what can you do?

I remember being a lot more scared of things as a child, & I'm not quite sure why. Things like the woods (even that name freaked me out), cemetaries, old houses in the French Quarter & uptown… I always felt something. And as the years went on, I'm no longer very afraid of these things ‘cause I don't feel like presences will hurt me. It makes me wonder if we really do see more things as children… are we more sensitive to the spirit world when we're kids? I've also felt like I've been places before, but in a different body & a very long time ago. I started believing in reincarnation at a young age because of this, but my Catholic faith says that reincarnation isn't real. So when we do have these feelings, are we experiencing something our ancestors felt? So many questions, but no answers. I don't think science will ever be able to touch this.

My first experience as a nurse: I was taking care of an elderly patient. She was hostile with everybody and always grumpy. Her daughters were with her most of the time, but she could no longer even carry on a conversation with them. Well her daughters went off to lunch, and I went into her room to give her some medicine. She was sitting upright in bed with the most beautiful smile on her face, talking to an empty chair. Again, I knew what this was...

I didn't tell anyone about it, but I knew she was talking to someone she had known a long time ago, who had since passed on. I really believe this.

[CFitzRN, ADN]

I really enjoyed this. COOL pictures too. I found myself nodding at a lot of your post. I absolutely do think that children are more sensitive to the supernatural. I also think fear is a beacon to demons, and children tend to fear a lot. I was a very fearful child too, and I experienced a lot of 'stuff.' But after living for 51 years and seeing my share of crap, and learning spiritual warfare, I have almost no fear anymore, except about things like my children dying or suffering, but not of satan or demons. I am Catholic also, very devout and practicing, and I have 4 sons. One of them is what I call a "sensitive." He has experienced more crap than you can imagine. I've read about some of the Saints, and how they were attacked (literally attacked - mentally AND physically) by demons during their lives. It is sobering, the thought of how real the spiritual realm is. It's not just stories in a really old book. We are fighting forces of evil and we need to know how. But I digress here. Anyway, thanks for sharing your compelling stories. P.s., my husband of 29 years went to Tulane University. I loved visiting down there; such rich history, such amazing people and places.

[CFitzRN, ADN]

Okay, literally seconds after typing my post above, I received the following email (mass email for Lent from Fr. Richard Heilman):

"THIS DAY WE FIGHT

Spiritually speaking, the devil is doing all that he can to catch us isolated and unarmed on the battlefield - no spiritual armor, no spiritual weapons, and no comrades in the heavenly realm to fight alongside of us. In other words, the reason evil is promoted so effectively today is because we're ignoring God's offer of supernatural strength and power and ignoring the mightiest of all allied forces: the Communion of Saints.

C.S. Lewis wrote, "Enemy-occupied territory - that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage."11 The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: "This dramatic situation of 'the whole world, which is in the power of the evil one,' (1 Jn 5:19; cf. 1 Pt 5:8) makes man's life a battle: 'the whole of man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield, man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity' (Gaudium et Spes, 37:2)" (CCC 409).

Are you ready to do battle? In the movie, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Aragorn calls his men to throw down the gauntlet against the forces of evil. Let this call be ours:

'My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!' "

Just found that pretty coincidental and thought I would share.