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...

[Laurajnh]

I had a pt in the delivery room one day. She was crowning and pushing as hard as she can, grunting with the effort. The doctor, the resident and myself were all giving her encouragement. She was pushing like a trooper! Just as the baby was being born the pt gasped and turned her head to the left toward the open scrub room door. She just stared in that direction. (I thought she had a stroke) When I asked her what was wrong she said "Tim" (don't remember the actual name) was standing in the door way. I looked over and did not see a thing. She was so intent on "tim" she did not even ask if it was a boy or girl!

After the delivery was completed we went to the recovery room. All the family came in to see Mom and the new baby. All the Pt could talk about was seeing "Tim". She described to them what he was wearing. I aked the family who Tim was and they said it was her brother who died 6 months before!

I had goosebumps twice that day. Once when the pt said someone was standing in the doorway. And again when I found out who that someone was! In all my years in nursing that was the spookiest thing to happen. But in a way it is comforting to know that those that have passed on, do know what is going on in our lives.

[shopgal, RN]

I used to work in a nsg home that had a new part that was only like 4 yrs old and the old part that we called the "getto" that was about 40 yrs old. Wierd stuff always happened in the getto part. Like we had a pt that was dying and we had gone in to clean up the room after the family had left for the night and there was a chair that I specifically remember putting against the wall on the other side of the room and every time that we came back the chair was up next to the bed like someone was sitting with her.

Another thing that happened at that place was there were two comatose pts in the same room at the end of the hall and one noc, their call light kept going on. I kept going in and shutting it off thinking that there was a short or something. I took the nurse down with me to show her that there was nothing going on in the room and then after a couple more times the nurse came back down with me again and the pt had a fiberoptic angel on her top shelf and it just came on by itself and we were like, there must really be a short and the nurse went to unplug it in case of a fire hazard and it wasn't plugged in, no lie.

[Nurse Cozmo]

ShirleyR said:

I've been a hospice nurse for 5 years. I have been with hundreds of people at the time of their death & I can tell you first hand that if the patient isalert enough to speak, you'll hear them talking to loved ones that have already passed over. I had a patient last week that kept saying where did the precious baby go? His grown children were at his bedside kept naming off grandchildren's names thinking he wanted to see them one more time. He kept telling them no, that wasn't the baby he was talking about. Finally one of the daughters asked him if it was Randall he was talking about, his face face lit up & he said "Yes, my precious baby. Your Mother brought him here & now I don't see him". Come to find out Randall was a child of his that only lived 6 hours after birth & his wife died 6 years ago. It gives me a kind of peace knowing we are not going to be alone at the time of our "transition".

That is so true. I, too am a hospice nurse and when pts. start talking to their dead relatives, you know that they have about a week MAX before they are gone. My own grandfather, when hospitalized and dying, told my father that it was so nice of the staff to bring his brothers and his childhood home from Germany over to cheer him up. When my father asked him what he was talking about, he said, "Look out the window there, you see that house? That was the house where I grew up in Munich, and those two little boys playing are my brothers Karl and Marc." My father knew that Karl and Marc were both dead of course, but he looked out the window and saw a small workmans shed and no children. My grandfather died that night. :stone

[tnacRN]

bori-bsnrn said:

? yes, you're right! there is a lot of people that not believe in ghost and make fun of these kind stories....i haven't seen a ghost, thanks god!:uhoh21: but i agreed with you that departed spirits walk among us.....

I have a friend who doesn't believe in spirits/ghosts. She says that once you die, if you are intended for heaven you go straight there. She believes all spirits/shadows/ghosts are the devil. That he wants you on his side so bad that he will disguise himself as a grandson on a tricycle, a young girl, an infant, a beloved family member, etc.

I would like to believe that you are greeted by loved ones when it is your time to pass. I also believe that we have angels and loved ones watching after us. My grandfather was getting ready to leave for china on a 3 week vacation and the night before he was scheduled to leave,he fell, hit his head on a concrete step splitting his head open above his left eye as well as breaking his left wrist. While in the hospital they discovered a much bigger problem... Three days later he had a triple bipass. He and I both believe that my grandmother helped in his "Fall." he doesn't do subtly so she had to knock him on his butt to get the message. Whether it was her or not, it saved his life. His doctor said he was a heart attack minutes from happening and would not have survived his trip to China.

If you believe as my friend does (and she's a devote christian) then these stories are a whole lot creapier!!

[celticqueen]

Chad_KY_SRNA said:

The best I have heard is from a nurse who said that one night she was floated to oncology at the hospital she used to work at. She was given a patient who was passing away and had been unconscious for several days. At one point during the night the nurse went into the room and the patient was at the top of the bed and looked at her and said, "don't let them take me!", the nurse was freaked out and asked her who was going to take her and she said that black thing up there and pointed up in the air. This patient died within minutes.

Come on now share your stories, I know you have seen and heard freaky things.

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

[celticqueen]

ccusherry said:

I work in a 9 bed ccu that we night shift nurses swear is haunted!! I personally have seen figures standing in doorways late at night. Blinds in pt's windows go up by themselves, callbells come on when room is unoccupied. One night, another nurse and myself were giving a bath when the tv starting flipping through all the channels. The remote for the tv was behind her on a stand. Another time she was giving a bath by herself to a t/v, sedated and restrained pt. She was down on her haunches tying his restraint when she felt someone or something run their fingers through her hair. The pt was on 100mcg/kg of diprivan so it was not him and there was not anyone with her in the room. The scariest one is one night we admitted a pt into room 9. After we had gottn her into bed, she looked at the wall in front of her and asked what was on the wall. We looked and here was bright red blood running down the wall. Needless to say we checked ourselves, the pt and the er personnel had not left the floor and no one had a fresh cut or open area on them. Well, the week before a young lady had died in that room. She came in to the hospital c/o abd pain. She ended having a upper endo and perfed something. She had projectile vomited blood all over that wall and floor. It was horrible. the nurses on that night said it looked like a slaughterhouse. I still get chills just thinking about it!!!

OH MY GOD

[celticqueen]

schroeders_piano said:

The rose petals just started floating down from the ceiling. It was like someone was just showering the room with them. This has happened several times over the years.

My creepiest and scariest ghost story for me happened about a year ago. It really was more of a posession than a ghost story. I was helping another nurse with a patient that had lived a very hard life. It had numerous things going on with him from cardiac to renal failure. You name it, he had it going on. This man was very much afraid to die. Every time his heart monitor beeped, he would just go into a rage screaming, "Don't let me die! Don't let me die!" The other nurse and I found out why he didn't want to die. About 0200 his cardiac monitor starts alarming V-Tach. We both rush into the room. I am pulling the crash cart behing me. When I get to the room, the other nurse is completely white. This man was sitting about 2 inches above the bed and was laughing. His whole look completely changed. His eyes just had a look of pure evil on them and he had this evil smile on his face. He laughed at us and said, " You stupid b****es aren't going to let me die will you?" and he laughed again. We were kinda frozen. I did reach up and hit the Code Blue button and when I did the man went into V-fib. He crashed back onto the bed. We started coding him, but after 20 minutes it was called. 5 minutes after the code was called several of the code team is in the room cleaning up when this man sits straight up in the bed and says, " You let him die. Too bad." and then begins laughing. The man collapsed back to the bed. We heard a horrible, agonizing scream ( actually every patient in the unit that night commented on the scream), and then you could hear "don't let me die" being whispered throughout the unit. Everyone of the nurses that night was pale and scared. No body went anywhere by themselves. By morning the whispers of "don't let me die" were gone. The night shift nurses had a prayer service in the break room before we left for home and then we all had nightmares for weeks.

My god, are you joking? That's horrible

[NYCRN16]

schroeders_piano said:

My creepiest and scariest ghost story for me happened about a year ago. It really was more of a posession than a ghost story. I was helping another nurse with a patient that had lived a very hard life. It had numerous things going on with him from cardiac to renal failure. You name it, he had it going on. This man was very much afraid to die. Every time his heart monitor beeped, he would just go into a rage screaming, "Don't let me die! Don't let me die!" The other nurse and I found out why he didn't want to die. About 0200 his cardiac monitor starts alarming V-Tach. We both rush into the room. I am pulling the crash cart behing me. When I get to the room, the other nurse is completely white. This man was sitting about 2 inches above the bed and was laughing. His whole look completely changed. His eyes just had a look of pure evil on them and he had this evil smile on his face. He laughed at us and said, " You stupid b****es aren't going to let me die will you?" and he laughed again. We were kinda frozen. I did reach up and hit the Code Blue button and when I did the man went into V-fib. He crashed back onto the bed. We started coding him, but after 20 minutes it was called. 5 minutes after the code was called several of the code team is in the room cleaning up when this man sits straight up in the bed and says, " You let him die. Too bad." and then begins laughing. The man collapsed back to the bed. We heard a horrible, agonizing scream ( actually every patient in the unit that night commented on the scream), and then you could hear "don't let me die" being whispered throughout the unit. Everyone of the nurses that night was pale and scared. No body went anywhere by themselves. By morning the whispers of "don't let me die" were gone. The night shift nurses had a prayer service in the break room before we left for home and then we all had nightmares for weeks.[/quote/]

OMG!!!

I would have had nightmares for YEARS after seeing that! It probably would have scared me into going to church every sunday for the rest of my life! This has to be the scariest story I have ever heard in my life!!

[lady_jezebel]

carolinapooh said:

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!

I'm not laughing -- I think it's really interesting, and I believe what you say really happened.

[Tinkerbell2]

I started reading this thread days ago. I have enjoyed it so much. I put it in my aol favs file, came back to it today, and 3 more pages of stories were added. Keep them coming ! They are great ! Thanks for the link on Near Death Experiences !

[brigaily2000]

yes, let's have more. never enough!!

[RNPolly]

All right; I can resist no longer. Not a ghost story, but a kind of premonition, perhaps.

My brother, age 20, had been sick for a week with "the flu" when I left for college in 1972 at age 17. Several days later, I hear from my folks that he is in the hospital and has survived a close call with a ruptured appy. (He had been to the doc at least once, if not twice, during this week. But that's another story, as the doc was later disciplined by the state medical society for failure to provide minimal care - not my brother's case.) I was angry with my folks for years for not telling me what was transpiring, but I am mature enough now to realize that they thought they were doing the best thing by not adding to my stress level.

Anyway, the next day, suddenly, without a shadow of a doubt, I KNEW that he had died. I actually hid in a campus building where I knew no one would think to look for me so I could spend a couple hours alone, crying, before I felt ready to face those who would be coming to fetch me and send me home. Which is exactly what happened. My boyfriend-at-the-time had looked for me on another floor of that building, and, unable to find me, was waiting for me at the bike rack outside my dorm when I returned. My brother's death was totally unexpected - pulmonary embolism after ambulating in the hall with his fiance; they were to be married in one month. A tragedy all around.

Another weird thing that I have shared (until now) only with my sister:

About a month after his death, I had a very vivid dream. On a bright, sunny day, with puffy white clouds in an azure sky, I find myself walking down a street. Obviously a new street, as only new construction is visible. Several houses are going up, with many busy workmen about, and I hear the sounds of their talking and hammering as they pound nails in the wall partitions going up. As I pass the first house, my brother jumps down from the open first floor where he is either working or supervising and steps out to greet me. He motions to the house and tells me that he is building this house and that, when it is finished, I will come and live with him there.

That's all I remember, but it is the ONLY dream I've ever had that I can remember for more than a day or two - and this is 33 years later (yep, I'm "mature"). I cannot share this with anyone, for it makes me cry to think of it, which it does now. A few years ago, I finally shared it with my sister, who says she has had the same dream. I am convinced (and comforted by the thought) that when it is my time to pass, my brother will be there to greet me.