What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)

Members are sharing personal experiences and stories related to ghosts, spirits, and paranormal occurrences in healthcare settings. Some members discuss encounters with deceased loved ones or unexplained phenomena, while others share their interest in ghost stories and movies like "Doctor Sleep" and "The Shining." There is a mix of skepticism, curiosity, and belief in the supernatural among the forum participants.

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 NICU, PICU, MNICU.
The night she died, the outside hospice nurse (an absolute ANGEL!) we'd hired to help mom through this transition told my sister and me to go home and get some much-needed sleep. It was my wedding anniversary (June 19), and I can remember thinking, "Please don't let her die on my anniversary..." The hospice nurse told us she'd call us if she noticed any changes that indicated the end was near.

About 0100 on the morning of June 20, the hospice nurse called us at my sister's house and said she thought we should come back. Mom's extremities were mottled, respirations were shallow and slow...we hurried back to the nursing home, stood on either side of my mom and held her hands, and cried as we told her it was okay to go, that we'd be fine, etc. She passed at 0300, waiting, I'll always beileve, until my actual anniversary date was passed. (Doesn't matter -- five years later, I still cringe as our anniversary approaches.)

Thanks for sharing this. I had a very similar story happen to me with my grandmother. She had been ill for many many years, and we had often thought "this is the end", usually when she was in the hospital. My mother predicted that Mema would die in January, as all of her siblings and her mother had died in January (and her father died on New Year's Eve).

We got a call on January 29, that she had died. I soon began to wonder when exactly she had died, as my son's birthday is January 28, and Papa called about 2-3 am. We later found out that Mema died at 0100, and had been brought to the ER at about 2100 on the 28th. We feel that she held on to avoid dying on my son's birthday.

The sad thing was, that I had expected a call from them, and hadn't received it. I had thought about calling that evening, but thought that they might have been asleep or tired. It turns out that Papa had transposed the birthdays on the calendar, since his sister's birthday was the 29th. At the funeral he told me that he was so sorry Mema had passed on my son's birthday. Then I realized why they hadn't called.

I don't know if this really was her influence, but if anyone would have done this for my son, it would have been my grandmother. I feel her presence fairly often, and sometimes I feel a presence right before something happens, like the other night when I was driving at night and felt the urge to slow down, right before I saw a deer at the side of the road.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, MNICU.

Another story for you, this one work related. I've often seen lights "flicker" after a death. A baby that I had taken care of died on the following shift. I was off work for several days, then assigned to work in a pod where he had apparently been moved as he had gotten sicker. I had noticed the lights outside the room flickering, and later was told the story of the baby's illness and death.

The other night, I was working in the adult ICU. I'm pretty new off orientation (my entire work history has been in PICU and NICU) so I've been trying to take the same patients. One of the patient's I'd taken care of was on comfort care, and the nurse who'd had him the night before was returning. He passed shortly after 2000, and later that night I saw a light flickering outside the door of my other patient.

Specializes in Looking for a career in NICU.

My mother passed away at our house. We had a boston terrier that was in the living room when she died. Now, this dog was normally quiet, he wasn't the yippy type.

When my father was with her, and he was waiting on the ambulance, she took her last breath, and he knew she was dead when she didn't take another...at that very moment, the dog walked into the kitchen and started howling and absolutely would not stop, even after being repeatively scolded. I think animals can sense when someone "crosses over".

My mother, when she was living, never spoke of anything she saw as a nurse, but she had a relative that was like a sister to her that was expected to die one night. Around 6:10 am., my mother thought my father (who slept in another room) turned on the light in her room, when she opened her eyes, the room was filled with a light and in the center of it, was an angel, she could see the halo, the wings, everything. As soon as she knew what she had seen, it disappeared.

Her cousin's family called around 8 that same morning and said she had died...at 6:10 am.

Going back to the topic of a dying person choosing the time of his/her death or "holding on" for a certain time or event to pass or occur before passing, I'm convinced that this is possible.

My family held a 4-day vigil at his hospital bedside before my dad's death four years ago. My sister had promised him that she wouldn't leave him, and she didn't, even sleeping on the chair in his room (I preferred the bench in the waiting area). Thursday was a busy day of non-stop visitors, relatives, friends, who were aware they were saying good-bye. My dad was never conscious the entire hospitalization, and I'm sure he hated the attention, but I know that it was important support for my mom, who was still living in denial. Friday was quiet; just my mom, sister, and myself. No apparent change in my dad's condition; nothing to indicate imminent death, so my sister and I wandered down to the hospital cafeteria to grab a tray to bring back to the room, leaving my mom at the bedside briefly. Wouldn't you know that's when my dad chose to pass, alone in the room with my mom (which freaked her out, of course). I'm convinced he wanted privacy, to be as alone as possible, with just my mom there and not my sister and me present.

I so totally agree, Polly. I've seen this happen three times in my family alone.

1. My mom waited, I believe, for my wedding anniversary to pass, but also for the arrival of her older sister from 500 miles away.

2. My grandfater, I believe, waited until my sister and I arrived at the hospital to sit with my grandmother. He passed within minutes of our arriving. I'll go to my grave believing that he didn't want my emotionally fragile grandmother to be alone when he passed.

3. My father in law was in an LTC with end-stage Alzheimer's. He'd been in the LTC for years. My mother in law had a trip scheduled with a bunch of her kids to Ireland and England. They went on the trip, but halfway through, the LTC got ahold of her and said it didn't look like my FIL was going to hang in there much longer. She cut her trip short by three days, flew back to the states, and went straight to his LTC from the airport. She sat with him for awhile and he seemed stable, so she went home to take a shower and make a cup of tea. He passed before she was out of the LTC parking lot on her way home. We all agree that he waited so she could see him one last time.

Why do you suppose that is? That we have final say when we're ready to "go?" And what about people who die instantly in tragic accidents, etc.? Why don't they get a "say" in when they actually cross over? Interesting things to think about, no?

I'm not sure if this is a "ghost story" but ya'll freaked me out last night so I must share.

Last night I worked in the alzheimers unit of our ALF. I have never worked by myself, or even with someone else over there before, but when people call out, you gotta do what you gotta do. Mrs. J came out of her room and I asked her if there was something I could help her with. She said "yes could you get the woman out of my room?" I thought she was talking about one of the residents that I know like to wander. I went to her room with her and saw no one. I said "well J, whoever it was, they're not here now." She replied, rather agitated "What do you mean she's not here? She's still sitting there in MY chair! Now make her leave!" Right away I thought of all the stories I read here. I just said "um, ok J I really need help doing laundry, wanna come?" I relayed this to the CNA coming in to relieve me. She said "oh she sees her all the time. A resident died in that room before she moved in. The chair in there used to be hers and very often, J will tell us that she is in her chair." Totally creeped me out!

So many stories.....None of them scary and all of them poignant. I am honored to have seen what I've seen....None of my stories are creepy and all defy description...Such as the "beautiful" death of a family member in that it was expected and when it occurred another nurse and I who were standing by just a bit apart from the family when the gentleman took his last breath. His family was leaning over him and we saw a white light emerge from his body and gently float to the ceiling and out. We both looked at each other and never really talked about it again....Many more on that level....

bump

I used to work in a nursing home, we had all the usual things like ghost call lights and doors closing themselves and things like that. There are a few things that stick out in my mind though.

-We had this elderly lady that was fully oriented, no dementia at all. Well, for about a week every time you would walk by her room you would hear her talking to someone. When you would go in her room, noone would be there and she would ask if we saw the woman in her room too. A week or two of this went by. I was passing meds one morning and was about halfway down the hallway. An aide and I heard her start talking so the aide goes down the hallway to her room. When she gets in front of her room she looks in and jumps about two feet back. I said "What's wrong?" and she says she just saw an old woman in a white gown with long white hair floating beside the residents bed. She wanted me to look in the room too, I was scared but, when I looked nothing was there. We both went into the room to scope things out and the resident said, "Finally, someone else saw her too, shes the woman I've been talking to every night"

I have another one too but, its really not a ghost story, its just kinda weird. We had an aide orientating one night, it was her first night. She was doing really well and seemed to like it. I was sitting at the nursing station doing my charting and the aide takes her lunch she goes into the break room and never comes out. I saw her go into the break room and I would of seen her come out because the break room is right in front of this nursing station, I would have heard her come out too because the doors beep. She didn't leave out of the front or back doors either. The hallway to the back door was beside the break room in front of me and the front door was to the right of me. I worked third shift and all the alarms on the doors were turned on so, I had the pleasure of going to the doors and turning the alarms off manually every time someone went outside and the alarms never went off. She couldn't have gone out of a window because they don't open. I don't know where she went but, we never saw her again. I asked my supervisor about it a couple of weeks later and she said that the aide never came to pick up her check for the half of the night she worked. They called the phone number she gave and it was a wrong number. So, they mailed the check to the address she gave and it came back, "Return to sender, no one by that name at this address." Kinda weird, isn't it? Wonder where she went?

.....I have another one too but, its really not a ghost story, its just kinda weird. We had an aide orientating one night, it was her first night. She was doing really well and seemed to like it. I was sitting at the nursing station doing my charting and the aide takes her lunch she goes into the break room and never comes out. I saw her go into the break room and I would of seen her come out because the break room is right in front of this nursing station, I would have heard her come out too because the doors beep. She didn't leave out of the front or back doors either. The hallway to the back door was beside the break room in front of me and the front door was to the right of me. I worked third shift and all the alarms on the doors were turned on so, I had the pleasure of going to the doors and turning the alarms off manually every time someone went outside and the alarms never went off. She couldn't have gone out of a window because they don't open. I don't know where she went but, we never saw her again. I asked my supervisor about it a couple of weeks later and she said that the aide never came to pick up her check for the half of the night she worked. They called the phone number she gave and it was a wrong number. So, they mailed the check to the address she gave and it came back, "Return to sender, no one by that name at this address." Kinda weird, isn't it? Wonder where she went?

That is really wierd

Not a "Ghost" story but still ghastly!!!

A fellow student was telling us today that yesterday, being halloween, she dressed all in black and I presume some makeup to match for her job as unit secretary. She had to speak with one of the techs in a pts room so went to the door and stood there waiting patiently and waved and smiled when the pt (a very elderly woman about 90s on O2 and having some difficulties). Well the poor old woman saw her and grabbed the mask as they were trying to take it off her and started to freak out! Seems she thought my classmate was the "angel of death' waiting at her door for her!!!

Specializes in Cardiac.

Well I have a few, some happened to me, some did not.

1) This was told to me as well as several other orientee's. There was an aide doing post mortem care on a patient. This was evidentally an expected death because all the family was there, I'm talking an entire waiting room full of family. The doctor pronounced, talked to the family about donation and everything. The family then went home while the aide was cleaning him up. She was almost done when suddenly he sat up, grabbed her arm and said "HOW YA DOIN?!" She burst outta the room. Now by this time the patient had been "dead" for about an hour or so. Of course, everyone runs in the room, hook him up the monitors and stuff and he seems fine. They have to call the doctor back AND the family and let them know. He lived another week so I was told. Who knows why he was hanging on because he had all his family there. (I know that sometimes people wait on certain family members.)

2.) This one happened to one of my patients. Actually, the very first code that ever happened to one of my patients. I started out at 7pm a bad shift. Within an hour, I sent someone to the unit because everytime she moved, her HR shot up to 170. THen I went around to all the other patients and checked in on pt "X" because I was told that she was a "dump" from another unit that didn't wanna deal with her. She had an NG tube, came from a NH with abd pain, blind, a Right BKA, and would not stop yelling. I finally got around to her. I went in, introduced myself, which would later result in her yelling my name at the top of her lungs because she didn't like using the call light, and of course, her room was as far away from the nursing station as possible. Yet, I strangely took a liking to her. She reminded me so much of my grandmother.

Anyway, lemme back up. While I was trying to get the other sick patient off the floor to the unit, a doctor called and asked the code status of patient "X". First of all, thats NEVER a good sign. (Full code btw)

Ok ... all night long she kept saying by morning she was gonna be dead. I sat back there all night we talked and laughed, turned out she didn't wanna be alone, which was fine, but I hadn't even opened a flowsheet on any of my other 5 patients and at 11pm I was gonna have to pick up more. Around midnight, HR went up. Called doc and asked if wanted me to give standing order of lopressor, said he'd be up. Came up, said she was in pain... gave morphine. Didn't help. I asked the patient if she wanted me to call anyone to come sit with her, she said that her family lived 30 min away, not to bother them, they put her in the NH b/c she was too much of a hassle for them to deal with. I told her I'd check on her about every 10 minutes, but I needed to go take care of my other patients as well. She said ok. Every 5 minutes, I'd hear my name. It got to the point that I sat at her door and *tried* to chart. (I couldn't do it inside b/c she was on contact precautions.)

Come 5:30, her HR shot up as I was giving contrast down her NG tube. All of a sudden, the monitor tech came over the intercom to the room and told me to get to the desk now. I ran up there, she met me half way and showed me a strip of v-tach. "CRAP!" I run back to the room. I ask pt. X if she's hurting. I swear, she looked dead at me and said "No, for once in my life, I'm not hurting at all." Then she seized.

Well, we did end up coding her. After the doctor's finally got a hold of her MPOA, they decided to make her a DNR. Her family said that they would not be in. That made me LIVID b/c during our conversations earlier she was telling me about when her kids were little and her husband. My shift ended at 7:30 that morning. The day shift nurses were pissed because I never left the patients bedside all night long, long enough to chart anything, actually, most of my patients never even had a new flow sheet started. (Night shift starts the new flowsheets.) I told my nurse manager I wasn't leaving her. I told the patient I was there for her and wouldn't leave her and I wasn't going to. I held her hand until she died around 8:30 that morning. By that time contact precautions were out the window. I didn't have any gloves on, I was holding her bare hand. I didn't get out of work until 11am b/c of all the charting I had to do. My nurse manager was wonderful and took care of talking to the family over the phone and arrangements and stuff. (Good thing b/c I was still pissed at them lol.)

Word of advice: If a patient tells you their going to die, then they will. And when she told me that she wasn't hurting, I really did not want to shock her because I knew she was going somewhere much more peaceful. Of course, I did, several times as it turned out, but still. I bet I was out of her room for a total of 40 min's that entire 12 hour shift. My coworkers were really great in helping me out in that situation, helping me pass meds and everything.

3.) This one happened to a co-worker. She said that she was charting at the desk one night and all of a sudden the tv turned on and turned up really loud in an empty room across from the nurses station. Co-worker got up, turned the tv off and sat back down. By this time she was a little unnerved but didn't pay too much attention to it. About 5 min later it did it again, and this time got louder. She said she walked in there and said "I'll leave it on, but it's gotta stay low, other people are sleeping!" She turned the tv down and it didn't get any louder the rest of the night lol.

4.) I was a witness to this one. I came out of room 15. Room 14 is a semi, but it was completly empty. We'd taken a critical pt that was in there earlier to the unit. Anyway, I was coming out of room 15 and a call light came on. I looked down the hall and it was room 14. I had a urine specimin in my hand so I didn't quite think I should go into 14 with it in my hand, so I stopped at the desk where the tech answered the call light.

"Can I help you?"

"Can I help you?" She asked twice.

She then looked over at the heart monitor to see the patients name that was in there so that she could call the patient by that name. She went white as a ghost because she looked at me and said there's no one in 14. I guess that's when it donned on me that no, there wasn't anyone in 14. So we went together to look, and everything was as it should be, empty and clean. It rang twice that night. Very scary lol

5.) Happened to another nurse but I was around the corner when it happened. She went to go open a door to room 17 (a semi) to answer a call light and the door wouldn't open. She said she pushed on it door several times as if someone was on the other end holding it shut. She said that when it did open, both patients were white as a ghost b/c she couldn't get in. The window was closed, so there wasn't any air blowing in the room. Both patients were assists, so neither could really hold the door then HOP into bed as if nothing happened, and there was no family members in there.

Kinda freaky.

I have more, but that's all for now! =)

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