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...

I just love these stories. Keep them coming.

I, too, believe in an afterlife, but don't know what.

OK, I've been putting off posting this one because I thought someone would laugh at me, but here goes.

I was living by myself in Greenville, NC while I was a student at ECU (this was around 1994). I was sitting on the couch watching TV and thinking about what a horrible week I had had. I had recently broken up with a physically abusive ex-fiance and was going through all the problems that brings. I actually had hit a pretty low point and felt as though the only friend I had in the world was my ferret, Tigger.

Well, I was slunked down on the couch, feeling completely alone, when suddenly I had this feeling I WASN'T alone. At the end of the couch was a recliner and I suddenly was convinced SOMEONE was sitting in the recliner. I sat up on the couch (as you can imagine), and stared at the chair, scared to death. About that time, Tigger ambled out of the bedroom and STOPPED in the middle of the floor. She was staring right at the recliner and would not go any further. In fact, she backed up a couple of steps.

That did it. Very calmly I said out loud that whoever was in the chair was really scaring us and we'd like to not be scared. (I know - WHAT does that mean?) Suddenly I heard myself say, "Grandpa? Is that you?" I wasn't scared anymore, and Tigger actually took a step towards the chair. "I'm OK, Grandpa - I'll be OK," I said, not really aware that I'd intended to say anything. (My grandfather died in 1992.) Tigger walked AROUND the chair, about two feet from it, and did not take her eyes off of it as she walked. No kidding. Just a couple of seconds later I felt alone again - well, alone except for the ferret, who literally gave the chair a wide berth for the rest of the evening. She wouldn't go near the thing.

I have no doubt that animals can see and hear things we can't. I've always believed that.

Since my dad passed away in April, sometimes when I'm alone in the house watching TV I feel like there's someone standing behind me (our couch sits between two entryways into the living room and one goes into the kitchen). Daddy used to lean in the entryway and keep an eye on the TV while he was waiting for my microwave to heat his water for coffee (he drank that instant crap!). And sometimes at Mama's house I'll smell a new pack of cigarettes - you know, that smell when the wrapper first comes off? Daddy smoked for years, although he kicked his two pack a day habit ages ago. (He used to sneak one now and again in the bathroom like a kid, and spray the place with Glade. It was both sad and hilarious.) Mama has never smoked a day in her life.

That's my creepy stuff - so far. Rather tame next to all these great tales!

Specializes in everywhere.

I'm bumping this thread back to the top. I don't have anything to add, but I'm loving this! Keep the stories coming! Please!

Here's another related link about near death experiences. This one includes articles by some of the leading near death researchers, including Melvin Morse, Dr. Ray Moody and the late Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, as well as links to accounts by near death experiencers:

http://www.near-death.com

Specializes in MED/SURG, ONCOLOGY, PEDIATRICS, ER.
I've shared this story on another thread but I believe my daughter gets visited by her great-grandmother. She used to tell us stories about her Nana all of the time which is funny because Nana died two days after my daughter was born. Before she died though, she used to tell me to hurry up and give her a baby girl. She was so excited about having a great granddaughter.

The most alarming story began when my daughter was 2.5 years old. She came to me and told me that her Nana was taking care of her little brother and that he would be coming to live with us soon. I laughed her off because my husband and I were taking every precaution, outside of abstinence, to avoid a pregnancy. I always knew within the first three weeks if I were expecting and there were no symptoms. Anyhow, after a couple of months I started feeling weird. I went to the doctor for a checkup and he decided to do a pregnancy test. The test came back negative. I started taking vitamins and trying to get some extra sleep because I was really dragging. I kept feeling this way for about another month, and I missed my period, so I went back to the doctor. Another pregnancy test, another negative result. We chalked it up to the financial stress we were under. He gave me some medication to bring my period on. After about two weeks the period didn't come but I kept remembering my daughter telling me about her little brother. Even if the tests had come back positive, my husband and I figured we would terminate the pregnancy because we were in no position to care for another child. I actually called some clinics to get information about the procedure because I've never had one and wanted to be informed. After finishing the medication, I went back to the doctor. He gave me another pregnancy test, this one came back positive. I was immediately scheduled for an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok. I found out I was 4.5 months pregnant. Too far along for me to feel ok about terminating. I also found out the baby was a boy. I was floored. Nana told my daughter that she had my baby boy, waiting for him to come home. She still tells us stories about her Nana but she seems to be more uncomfortable now that she is 9 years old.

Amazing story....Lovely though. Alexillytom, how is your baby boy? Just curious.....

Specializes in ER, PED'S, NICU, CLINICAL M., ONCO..

I believe this must come too late. Provably not important by itself, but necessary to hold on my connection to allnurses.com, so I give you this.

I've been working in two huge hospitals, three clinics, and an ambulance system as paramedic as well. I heard ghost-stories everywhere. Anyway I guess the most relevant are the latest ones. We have a ghost on our third flour called "the blond of the third" she used to dress herself as a nurse and perform nursing duties.

The most relevant aspect of "the blond" is that no nurse or doctor has ever seen her but our patients. Generally, they use to say something like: "The blond nurse has told me..." or "few minutes ago a blond nurse gave me my medication".

Some related that she has no legs, I mean; she floats on the air and so on.

I don't know what you would think about it.

Anyone of us did pay much attention to it. No one got in panic. Just heard the repeated stories from our patients one and another time without adding much anxiety.

These things might happen, specially where people die every day. It means nothing anyway. Just a tale to tell. Nothing will change our reality, our daily affairs. Our miseries.

We joke about it but don't pay to that much credit. We're nurses, busy and tired to give such things much energy.

vemiliob said:
I believe this must come too late. Provably not important by itself, but necessary to hold on my connection to allnurses.com, so I give you this.

I've been working in two huge hospitals, three clinics, and an ambulance system as paramedic as well. I heard ghost-stories everywhere. Anyway I guess the most relevant are the latest ones. We have a ghost on our third flour called "the blond of the third" she used to dress herself as a nurse and perform nursing duties.

The most relevant aspect of "the blond" is that no nurse or doctor has ever seen her but our patients. Generally, they use to say something like: "The blond nurse has told me..." or "few minutes ago a blond nurse gave me my medication".

Some related that she has no legs, I mean; she floats on the air and so on.

I don't know what you would think about it.

Anyone of us did pay much attention to it. No one got in panic. Just heard the repeated stories from our patients one and another time without adding much anxiety.

These things might happen, specially where people die every day. It means nothing anyway. Just a tale to tell. Nothing will change our reality, our daily affairs. Our miseries.

We joke about it but don't pay to that much credit. We're nurses, busy and tired to give such things much energy.

Why do you not share some of your other stories buenos aires curious as to what you heard or saw. thanks for sharing .........sounds like that blond nurse does her rounds ............lol

What a cool thread. I personally believe that when some patients are in the dying process and they call out names of dead relatives or friends that it is not always dilusional. I do believe that they are seeing someone help them to the other side. Five years ago, when my mother in law was in her last days in the hospital, she would frequently call out to her grandmother who had been deceased for many years. My MIL was mentally sound, but her physical condition became worse after she had heart surgery. She was very close to her grandmother because she had raised her.

I think that a very creepy but fun thing to do is to visit an old mental hospital that has been shut down for years, and see if there is any paranormal activity there, especially at night. :coollook:

Here's my story,

The ER was swamped this day. Ambulance called in with a chest pain, minute later a second chest pain, a minute after that a third, and a fourth. After all four had been brought in a code was called in the ICU. Our code team responded.

Our 3rd chest pain ended up going over to cath lab he was in bad shape. After he was wheeled past me, I looked back into the room. The pt. stood against the shelves looking at the doors behind my back. I looked behind me to see his wife come through the doors. Looking back in the room, there was no one there.

Two minutes later a code was called in the cath lab. He died.

Specializes in Infectious Disease.
BORI-BSNRN said:
Amazing story....Lovely though. Alexillytom, how is your baby boy? Just curious.....

My baby is fine. He's five years old now and he is such a blessing.

Emma-Jane Farmer said:
When I worked in a nursing home we had a resident that was unpleasant to say the least. One day I was on bell duty (it was my responsibility to answer all the bells for 2 hours), and the man rang his bell and told me that there was a black dog under his bed. I looked under the bed, but there was nothing there. I thought that he could have possibly seen a dog because it was a hot day, and the front door to the home was open. I told him that the dog must have gone out of the door before I arrived. He rang the bell again a short time later, insisting that he could see a dog under the bed, again I couldn't see anything. This carried on. He became quite hysterical on one occasion shouting that the black dog under his bed was trying to bite him, and that it had red eyes. He looked terrified, and I couldn't calm him down for ages until the dog had disappeared. I handed over what happened to the nurse in charge, and went home as it was the end of my shift. The next day I was on an afternoon shift, and found out that the man had died not long after I had gone home.

It really freaked me out. He was a very unpleasant man, and I often wondered if the dog was there to take him away to you know where. One i'll never forget

Emma

Sorry for the double.

I guess this gives new meaning to the term "Hound of Hell."

Scary. Keep these stories coming. They are quite fascinating, and from a born-again Christian perspective, I'm trying to reconcile these stories and my beliefs. Very, very fascinating and downright spooky. I'm reading this later at night only because dh is working on another computer next to me. ?

Time for bed, and I do hope for pleasant dreams after reading ALL of this thread.

This just happened today. One of our residents had returned from the hospital with a dx of end stage renal failure about 3 weeks ago. Thought for sure she was going to die right after I left one night.....vitals poor (resp. 6), she's pale, Cheyne Stoke-ing. Well, she kept coming out of it. This morning, she did it again....came out of her decline, looked at the nurse next to her bed, and stated quite clearly, "I am dying now." Put her head down, and died. :cry: Totally creeped the 7-3 shift at first, but then again....

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