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...

I've worked in several nursing homes since 1997, so I've had plenty of run-ins with restless spirits.

At this one nursing home, there were three different wings. North, East and West. West wing was the "heavy" hall. Mostly tube-feeders and total care. East was the Medicare/short-term rehab wing. Then there was North. North had a pretty ecclectic mix of patients of differing levels of acuity. There was a short hall and a long hall. However, to the back of North wing, there was a long hall that had about ten private rooms, a day room on one end and a small dining room on the other end. The residents back on this hall (called 400 hall) were all ambulatory and even a few "wanderers".

Now, I generally worked from 3-11, but on this particular night, the 11-7 girl was sick so I was asked to stay. As I was off the next night, I agreed. Since I was working a double, I was given the assignment on 400 hall. It was an easy assignment as most of the residents were continent and the few that weren't were really light weight.

Anyhow, I was sitting in the dining room with the lights off, charting by the dimmed hall lights when I caught something out of the corner of my eye moving down the hall. Thinking it was one of my "wanderers", I looked up and saw what to this day I still believe was a toddler on a tricycle.

Let me tell you now, I lost it. The ADL book went flying and I skittered up the short hallway to the nurse's station. I relayed my story to the charge nurse and she just sort of chuckled at my expression and explained that one of the residents that had passed away years ago had a grandson that was killed by the back tires of her car. He was in the driveway and she didn't see him and backed right over him. The night the lady died, she was calling out "Tyler, oh my baby Tyler. Nana's coming.". Then she passed.

Everyone has come to the conclusion that the toddler on the tricycle still haunts that hall, looking for his grandma.

Either way, I never worked another 11-7 on 400 hall.

That one is very sad. Must have made your hear jump in your throat. But it's still very sad. It's hard to see the sad stories of spirits looking for things. Especially, a young spirit. I used to work in the palliative unit of an old hospital. It used to have a pediatrics unit down the hall. Across the street used to be a children's orphanage/hospital. Sometimes, the patients would see the children playing in the halls and outside behind the hospital.

I also work in a LTC facility. One of the residents I commented once that she looked like my mother. My mother died suddenly of a stroke. I don't know why I said it. But she did look like my mother. Anyway, over a period of time, the resident deteriorated from a very bad infection on her knee and foot. The call bell system at the LTC I work at uses buttons. When the resident needs help, they push the button that hangs from a necklace around their neck. At bed time, they put it wherever they need it. She was always in pain and her dressings needed to be changed frequently. I enjoyed my time changing her dressings, I'd give her pain med before, and she'd listen to me gab while I changed the dressing. Long story short, I got attached then, she had to be sent to the hospital. Well, I happened to be working on the same unit that she was admitted to. When she was sent to the hospital, her call bell was hanging on a hook in her room. Two months later, she died in the hospital. I was on the night shift at the LTC facility the night she died. Her call bell kept going off many many many times that night just like she were back from the hospital!!

How does one explain that one? I mean just about the call bell. What does one do when a patient or resident dies? I try not to get emotionally attached but sometimes, it's way too hard.

Specializes in Corrections, Cardiac, Hospice.

How does one explain that one? I mean just about the call bell. What does one do when a patient or resident dies? I try not to get emotionally attached but sometimes, it's way too hard.

user_offline.gif report.gif The day I stop getting emotionally attached to my patients is the day I get out of nursing. It is part of what makes me so good at what I do, I love them all.

user_offline.gif report.gif The day I stop getting emotionally attached to my patients is the day I get out of nursing. It is part of what makes me so good at what I do, I love them all.

Good. As a patient, I want nurses who REALLY care about me. And in my thought you can not REALLY care without getting emotionally attatached

Specializes in everywhere.

I just had to bump this thread to the top again. I love this thread, keep them coming!

I was working in the nicu when we had a threat of a tornado. Some Nurses got pulled to go to a sister hospital in town to assist in the disaster plan. When all was over one of the nurses returned with this story: She was assissting the nurses in giving some meds before pulling all into the hallways. Every pt she went to said they already had their meds from that nice nurse in the white uniform and hat. She realized after she left that its been awhile since a nurse has worn a hat. That story revealed the urban ledgen of Nurse Betty. Story goes she had an affair with a married md, became pregnant then agreed to allow him to perform an abortion on her on the 2nd floor OR room.She died and he went to jail. She never left the hospital and was seen frequently. The local newspaper would do an article of her every year around halloween on her sightings. The hospital has since been replaced with college dorms. Hmmmm i wonder if any students have seen her?[/QUO

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

Hey, do you think you can send her my way to pass some of my meds??? :)

If I was witness to that I wouldn't be alive now. I would have literally $h*t myself to death. My sphincter blown right out my behind, giving one last merry toot as it blew in the wind.

That has to be the scariest story I have ever heard.

If you and your sphincter came back to haunt us, that would be something else we could include in this thread.

Death Angel...

Working nights in LTC you hear stories ~ I heard about the "Death Angel" when I worked out West...

I worked 7p-7a in a LTC and the RN on the other side of the building told me about her.

A misty feminine figure could be seen coming down the hallway. When it would go into a resident's room, they knew that the resident wasn't long for this world.

Kindly Old Man...

Also found out about "The Old Man" who visited frequently. He was a nice old man with white hair, always wore beige slacks. He could be seen on either side of the building but always ended his "visits" by going into the Chapel...

:eek:

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I worked in ltc for years, lot's of dying going on.

2 warning signs:

1. the facility cat starts favoring a certain resident, sleeps on their bed or chair, seeks them out.

2. the resident sarts calling "mother, mother"

Being new at this hospital,one evening I was pulled to help out on another floor. Everything was real quiet, patients asleep and we were doing our charting, I heard the phone ring in a patient's room. Not being very familiar with the floor, I finally found it in an empty room. As soon as I answered it whoever was ringing hung up. I mentioned it to another nurse and found out that the phone rings every night at 10:30PM and all the hospital phones to patient's rooms are cut off from outside calls at 10:00PM!!

I love all of these stories. I have to think of some of my own to tell.

I love all of these stories. I have to think of some of my own to tell.

Do tell! I love them, too.

EEekkk!:stone :uhoh21:

Hi,

My friend told me when she was delivering her son she went into cardiac arrest and was hovering over her body and saw her grandmom and was told to go back, cause it was not her time yet. While she was hovering over her body she saw the medical staff doing cpr and one of the med students was so upset he threw up on the floor. After she was back in her body she asked the student how he felt, and everyone was freaked out that she knew he got sick since she was in cardiac arrest when it happen.

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