What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

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 geriatrics, Psych.

If you are saying that this is not possible I too witnessed almost an identical situation. The man would kick his feet and scream to be pulled up in the bed. He did die and to this day I regret that I did not witness to this man, but I was new on the job and TERRIFIED to go in his room. One of the Docs even said, He must be seeing the flames of Hell!

You make your own hell.

It is what you think it is, in your mind.

So think good thoughts, about heaven.

" movie was filmed there called "Session 9"

I will look for the movie..........thanks!

Specializes in community health, LTC, SNF, Tele-Health.

Lol I thought the same thing. But you wouldn't believe the waiting list. The place is sort of gothic and just beautiful but so foreboding. I certainly don't want a condo there! I guess if you didn't know the history it'd be ok. I think they are tryng to recruit people form out of state etc. It really is a shame though. They should have repaired it and opened it as a new psych facility . We don't have nearly enough resources around here. The weirdest thing just happened as I was typing this...the comp froze and I kept typing and when it unfroze I had typed Andy Price instead of "psych facility". Wierd. I wonder who Andy Price is?!

Specializes in MR Peds, geris, psych, DON,ADON,SSD.

Maybe Andy WAS on the list??

a former resident possibly?

Here's mine:

I floated to Oncology a few years ago. One DNR patient was "circling the drain", family members, clergy, and physician at bedside. The patient was Cheyne Stoking, had been lying with eyes closed since I assumed care a few hours previous. All of a sudden, the patient sits straight upright, with an awful, pained look on his face and gasped loudly. It was a terrible look on his face. A female family member gasped in horror. Then the patient fell back on the bed and never breathed again. Hmmmm...........

There is a room on the surgical floor that is said to be haunted. Staff say that some patients who stay in that room and SHOULD do well, have bad outcomes inexplicably.

One very straight and sober charge nurse told me she was caring for a fellow nurse in that room and put a med cup on the bedside table. The cup then slid across the table a bit.

Thinking the table was wet and the cup may have slid on it, she simply picked up the cup and moved it closer to the patient again.

Then the cup tipped over. She thought this weird, but put the meds back in the cup and again put it close to the patient.

The cup then flew across the room and hit the wall. She (and the nurse who was the patient) swear this is true.

As for the claims of rose petals falling out of no-where and carpeting the room, um, next time? Get your picture phone and email it to the Enquirer. You'd be a whole lot richer and maybe can take that LOA we've all been longing for............

kframe ,

Did the nurse in white tell the lady about her surgery, in a kind way or nasty?

Did she tell the lady anything else?

:nurse:

Sorry for the delay in response...

Anyway, the patient who was informed by the "ghost nurse" was of course upset at the news of her prognosis, but she did report that the "ghost nurse" was kind and tried to reassure her that she would be cared for very well.

We did not tell my patient that this nurse who spoke to her was a "ghost", didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.

Thank you for your question.

-K

kframe

Thanks for coming by and letting me know.

Glad she was kind.......

:)

Specializes in LTC, Subacute Rehab.

Facility where I work has 4 nurses' stations, of which Nos. 1, 3, and 4 are general LTC / dementia. Station 2 is a shorter-term rehab unit, but there is an occasional resident who goes downhill fast after arrival.

Another CNA, working nights on Sta 2, had a resident on her assignment who died very suddenly around 2 in the morning. For the next several hours, the entire hall was plagued with banging noises, creaks, etc - and the television in the late resident's room flew off its shelf, landing in the middle of the bed (this was after the body had been removed).

This all went on until daybreak. Apparently the CNAs and nurse all decided that huddling inside the station would be preferable to walking around alone. :sofahider

Lol I thought the same thing. But you wouldn't believe the waiting list. The place is sort of gothic and just beautiful but so foreboding. I certainly don't want a condo there! I guess if you didn't know the history it'd be ok.

Hi Nurset - I think that regardless of the history, if one is sensitive to the presence of spirits, that the person might have some ghostly experiences while living there. Here's a minor case in point: Many years ago, the neighbor at my parent's house passed away at home d/t colon CA. His widower moved away and two owners later, my mom is now friends with the current owner. She asked my mom the name of the original home's owner, and if he died at home. Mom told her and then asked why she wanted to know... she (the neighbor said) was just curious because they have a ghost. They have a little music box that plays all by itself at various times, day or night... and she knows that the box is not wound up at all. Up until recently, the neighbor didn't know that anyone had died in that home.

Maybe it's because my parent's home is located in a "spiritually sensitive area" for lack of better term. When I lived there, I know that I heard my name being called several times in my mom's voice. I went to go find my mom only to find out that she didn't call me. My brother has reported an apparition at the bottom of the stairs that walks back and forth... I believe he says that it's a little girl. We had many other strange occurances.

We do not know of the history on that land, and what might have happened there that we have all these strange spiritual events going on.

:sofahider

Specializes in OB, ortho/neuro, home care, office.

Been reading this thread for a total of 9 hours! These are amazing.

I have a Reiki story of my own (of sorts I guess). I am an intuitive. Have been for as long as I can remember.

14 years ago my mom in law was diagnosed with breast ca. Had a masectomy and went on without problems for about 7 years. Found another lump in other breast that has mets to the bone. SO between the mets and weakened state d/t the radiation and chemo she broke her femur in 1996 (she was 48 at the time). She went to the hospital for the most part healthy (as she could be with mets all over) and had pins put in her leg. She had this under general anethesia. She was on a vent d/t the anesthesia immediately after the surgery. D/t her weakened state it took a while (so we thought) to get her off the vent.

One day the doctors called us in for a meeting (1 week after her surgery). We went in and he said they had repeatedly tried to wean her off the vent over the last week to no avail. They wanted to know if we wanted to continue life support. We decided to think about it. The doctors all said that there would be no chance for survival if we took her off the vent. When we left as we were all telling her goodbye, I had the most overwhelming urge to put a necklace I was wearing (had been wearing it for 1 - 2 years - it had an angel on it all silver) on my mil neck. Asked the nurse if it would be okay - and she agreed that it couldn't hurt at this point. So I did. Took off the necklace and placed it around my mil neck. Kissed her goodbye.

The next morning at 6am we got a call from the hospital. Expecting the worst we answered the phone.

The nurse on the line said that 'we have some incredible news - she's off the vent and talking (more like wispering) on her own!'

We all rushed to the hospital, and they were right, there she sat with only O2 by nasal cannula! And ONLY at 1L!! This is a woman who we were prepared to shut off life support and let go not even 24 hours previously. By the time we got there she was quite awake.

Anyway - she became very stable and sent home only 2 days later! Once she was home, and we were together in her front room. She told me in front of the whole family. "Thank you" I was so confused, I said 'what for?' she said, 'for giving me more time with my family' Still very confused but aware that she still had my necklace on. She went on to tell me that the moment I put that necklace on her she felt a sudden strength. Something she could not explain except that she felt it was my energy and strength that was in my necklace that actually pulled her through. I didn't completely understand the complexities of it at that point. But I was thrilled if I had anything to do with giving her more time with her twin boys. She gave me back my necklace, and somehow it felt different to me. Something I can't explain - but I am a psychometrist so I am always hard pressed to explain these things.

She lived for 8 months after the broken femur. At the end she was placed in Hospice. My hubby and I had moved back to his home state and lived in my grandparents house (another story in itself for another time). We went to where she was living at the time (which was my hubby's grandmothers house since my MIL was not married at the time). I again placed my necklace on her. Not knowing if it would do any good. In the last 2 days she begged for apricot jello and spoke to family members who had passed away prior to her (her dad, an uncle and an aunt) we heard her talking to them. Passed it off as MS effects.

On the day that she passed we had been up all night with her because she had the 'death rattle' so we knew her time was near. Suddenly out of the blue I had the urge to go, we had to leave and we had to go now. I didn't know why.

My husband had accepted the fact that his mom was going to die. His twin brother on the other hand (which by the way they were born on their mothers birthday) had NOT accepted her impending death.

So at my insistance (which I still am not quite clear on why) we left. Only to recieve a phone call as soon as we walked in our door that MIL had passed away probably at the time we had left her city limits. I believe she didn't want my husband there because somehow she knew that he had accepted her death, where my BIL had not, she needed him there to make him accept it. In either case I believe that she somehow gave me the desire to leave.

About 2 weeks later we were at her house, getting her stuff gathered up (her house not where she actually died). I was looking around the house and going through jewelry boxes (at the families insistance) and found my necklace. Which I find as odd because I saw it on her neck in the casket. I never asked how it got in the jewelry box because I'd like to believe in my heart it was my MIL (which by the way was like a second mom to me) telling me thank you.

I have alot of stories but don't want to spread this post out too long.

Specializes in ortho/neuro/general surgery.

Last night on medical/oncology we coded an elderly patient in with ARF/dehydration, and she didn't make it. She was my patient. On the previous shifts, she had been talking to her late husband, who had died in the 1970's. We thought the morphine was making her hallucinate, but he was probably coming to get her. She went into V tach, PEA and then asystole, and the internist ended the code after about 15 minutes of shocking, compressions and meds. After the code team left the room, it was just 2 other RN's, the supervisor and myself in the room. We noticed she was taking agonal breaths and had a faint slow pulse. We called the internist back into the room and he listened to her heart for about a minute until the agonal breaths stopped, and then declared her. She had a roommate, so we moved her to a private room, and got her ready for her family to come. I could have sworn I saw a smile on her face, and she looked so peaceful. This was the first time I had coded a patient and I felt horrible. But being in her room cleaning her up and straightening her hair and blankets, I felt like she was telling me it was okay, that she had been ready.

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