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...

[nursesherry]

This story didn't involve a ghost but still scared the pants off of me. One night while working LTC I was leaving my station to go down to the break room for a drink. The front doors of the facility had two long windows on each side of the doors. As I passed by the front doors I saw someone looking in one of the windows. It looked like Beetlejuice! Black around the eyes, red lips with blood running down the sides and freaky hair that stood up on the sides. Have you ever seen the cartoons where the character gets scared and tries to take off running but just can't seem to get traction and take off. Well that was me. I was trying to take off running but wasnt going anywhere for what felt like minutes but was a few seconds. Finally I took off and ran to the next nurses station. I had anohter nurse go with me and we peeked around the corner. He was still there. She said it does look like Beetlejuice! We called the police and they were there almost immediately. Ends up it was a drunk man who had been in a bar fight. His eyes were blacked and mouth busted. He was looking for the emergency room next door to our facility but was too drunk to figure out which building was which.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

Hi, This is my 1st post on this board. :) I just had to reply. Although my most significant experiences did not happen as a "nursing ghost story" per se. Although some have.

In 1984, I was preparing to be a bridesmaid in a friends wedding and I was expecting at the time. My friend was having another friend alter our dresses. Well, my dress came back and it was about 3 sizes too big and too long, so my Gram, whom I was very close to, as I was her 1st Grandchild, said, "I'll do the alterations for you honey". During my many fittings, we would always talk about my having her 1st Great Grandchild and how she was also making the netting for the bassinet too. She swore it would be a girl, and made a pink one. As we were getting close to my last fitting, she told me to stand up on the chair with my heels on carefully, as she could not bend over and wanted to check the length. She was 74 yrs young at the time. God I loved her. Well, I put my heel right through the back of the gown, tearing a huge hole in it at the bottom! She calmly told me, "Get down off the chair now Emilee and please go home, I will fix it". I couldn't apologize enough as I walked out the door, she had worked so hard on it for me and I know she was a bit perturbed about it and just didn't want me to see her frustration.

A few nights later, I was sound asleep in bed, when I felt the hair on my forehead being brushed aside and felt a very distinct kiss on it and a very warm embrace. I sat straight up and looked over at my husband at the time, thinking it was him, and he was over on the other side of the bed snoring away. I sat there with an odd feeling I couldn't understand and looked at the clock, it said 10:02pm. I just couldn't shake what I know I felt and had not dreamt.

I got up to get a water and sat on my couch for about 45 mins trying to rationalize what I felt, when my phone rang. It was my Mom and she said, "Em, can you come to the house, Gram passed away about 45 mins ago. She was sitting in her rocking chair around 10pm, said to my Grampa, "Al, I love you, please hold my hand, I'm leaving now", he took her hand confused, and she closed her eyes and passed away". OMG! She came to me while I slept, her final goodbye and kissed me before she moved on. I told my Dad and my Grampa and they both started to cry, as I was her favorite and it comforted them very much. For me, I'll be honest, I was afraid to look in the mirror and see her looking back at me for days. Really. I think I would have had a heart attack myself!

Later on, I took the rocking chair she died in, for when I had my baby. Everyone was too freaked out to sit in it or touch it, but I wasn't. When I had my Son, it was not a girl like she thought, I would rock him in that chair and I felt her there with me. Many times when I was sooo tired doing night feedings, I felt my hair being stroked and such a sense of calm. A few times, I'd see that chair rocking on its own while my son slept. I knew she was there watching over her 1st Great Grandchild and I would see it and say, "Hi Gram, he's beautiful isn't he"? I still when in distress or stressed out, talk to her. I feel her there always. I'll sit in her rocking chair and talk to her. I always feel better afterward and somehow the troubles I had, I found a way to work through them after my "session" with Gram.

Now my Grampa, he didn't do well after she passed. She was his life, being married well over 50 yrs. He would cry every night for her. He replaced every name in his bible with her name, painstakenly handwritting it in! I don't know why, but he did. It gave him comfort. He had developed Alzheimer's and would call only *ME* by my Grams name everytime he saw me, he said, "I see you there". Later on, he developed pneumonia, and lapsed into a coma, and was not given long to live. We would visit him and I can't explain how he looked. It was just not him anymore. He was a shell of a person, who did not come out of his coma. My Dad and I were with him one night, I was talking to him, hoping he heard me when I looked upward and saw a flash of light. I asked my Dad if he saw it and he just looked at me stunned. I knew my Gram had come to take him home. We both took his hand and I said, "Grampa, its okay, take Grams hand now, she's here waiting" and my Dad said, "Its okay Dad, go to Mom now, let go, we love you". No lie, in a coma, unresponsive, he sat straight up in the bed(scared me, I didn't expect that, he was in a coma after all), extended his right arm and hand upward towards the ceiling as if reaching for something, lied back down and he was gone. He took her hand.

I have many more experiences I could post about, even from family pets that have gone to other experiences I have witnessed, but didn't want my 1st post to be too long, as it is already! :wink2: Sorry. Just sharing.

Emilee

Emilee, do come back and post some more of your stories. Yours are definitely not too long, and we welcome you to Allnurses.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

Also, you should consider contacting serious researchers in haunting/parapsychology about that incident. You have multiple witnesses seeing something that cannot be explained by any conceivable rational explanation (a guy floats, speaks demonically, dies, and comes back to life). Were it properly documented and recorded for posterity this would probably go down as one of the most dramatic incidents in parapsychology in American history.

Don't you think that ugly black thing with the scream was a demon? I do.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

I'm too tired to continue, but before I go, I just want to mention a recent incident with my only full brother who was my playmate when we were children. About a week ago, after moving back to NYS from Richmond, VA, he suddenly gasped, "I can't breathe!!!! I'm very well acquainted with the ability to not be able to breathe. I am a COPDer. Anyway, when they got him to the hospital, they had to defibrillate him twice. Now he wears a pacemaker with an automatic defibrillator in his chest, but it was faulty due to some clogged coronary arteries. He was airflighted to Good Samaritan and they did the procedure, after he was on a vent for 2 days, and was stabilized. Then he was released.

He had one very expensive cab ride home last noc $165. Anyway, I phoned him, and thankfully he answered. He talked about his shocking experience, and told me when the defibrillator in his chest went wacky, it shocked him twice. He said he never wants to experience that again. I told him that was because his heart was ready to stop beating twice, and they defibrillated him.

Also, we had a resident who died in this house (I live in a hospice house) not too many months ago. Anyway he had been a wet breather with cheynes-stokes respirations for 2 days. On the third day, he began to breathe normally, so he got out of bed, got dressed in his good clothing, since the house had already called his family to tell them he was dying, They arrived around mid morning, and he sat up and visited with them that entire day. He died early the next morning.

I have had several experiences with unusual activity here and while living in my apt prior to coming here.

Just yesterday, while viewing a favorite televangelist, my TV went mute 3 x while she was talking. Sometimes the TV changes channels all by itself, and sometimes my ceiling lite or the ceiling fan starts when nobody is touching anything.

More another time.

[Becca608]

On the tape you can distinctly hear the one Paramedic talking to the patient, along with at least one First Responder (they did go in with the crew), and also the other Paramedic on the phone in the next room talking to Medical Control at a hospital in the next county. What you CAN NOT hear, not even the hint of a whisper, was the voice of the patient. I've talked with both medics (one since deceased as well as others present, and all swear he was speaking in a conversational volume but with a wierd, unearthly, deep voice. He identified himself as some sort of demon as I recall, and said his intent was to cross over to the "other side."

This kid was about 16, and of course was taken in for a psych eval such as it was worth. Within a year he was found in a local cemetary - quite deceased of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The tape was perfect, the blank spots where he should have been speaking - you could hear the crew responding to his reponses - had only the background noise you'd expect to be washed over by his closer voice. I would never have believed the tale if the tape had not been saved and I listened to it on two seperate occasions.

Ayrman

I used to do paranormal investigations and EVPs is a hobby.

This is by far the creepiest yet! I'd love to hear that tape (darn HIPAA)!!!:sofahider

[Becca608]

I work in LTC also. I had heard many reports of the patients claiming to see children in there rooms, making noise, rocking in a rocking chair or running around getting into trouble. Usually when the patients start seeing the children, someone passes away shortly after. One evening I went into a patients room to re-check a PT/INR. I told her I was sorry that I had to wake her up to do this. She said she had not been able to get to sleep anyway until she got the little girl calmed down to sleep. She patted the bed saying the little girl was sleeing right there in the bed with her. The next morning, the patient accross the hall passed away.:uhoh21:

Ifind it interesting that there are all of these trouble-making children in LTC facilities...maybe they are projections from the residents themselves? There is so little we really know about the human mind....

[Becca608]

I found the most amazing and scary ghost video EVER! iam always looking for evidence of ghosts and paranormal well anyway i found this.

happy halloween!

Well thanks Trendy. I had just made myself a cup of tea and drowsily perusing this thread and thinking of going to bed early before starting a new week of clinicals. Thank you for the adrenaline rush and reminder that I should be staying up late to work on my term paper that's due in 2 weeks.:trout:

lol

[doe9181]

We had a patient one night tell the doctor when he was making rounds that Jesus was in the doorway and was telling her to come home. The doctor told her to go. That night she did.

Not nursing, but when I was 18 years old my boyfriend and I were going to prom, we had one of his friends and his date in the car with us. We went to eat in the town I lived at then we were headed back to his home town. Well his friend told him to take a certain road that it would be a short cut. As soon as we turned on the road, I heard a voice that said "put your seat belt on." I did and told everyone else to do the same. Well the other girl put hers on and made her date put his on. Everytime my date would reach for his seat belt a curve would come in the road and he would let go of his seatbelt to drive. I undid mine, put his on him, and then put mine back on. The next curve we went around the car went straight. My boyfriend swore that he turned the steering wheel but it still went straight. I hit my head on the plastic piece on the side of the front windshield holding it in. Other then that no one else was hurt. I was just shaking. The house we went to to call for a tow truck belonged to a nurse, she was afraid I was going into shock, I told her I was just cold (Arkansas in MAY, not cold). When I went home that night I knocked on my mothers door to let her know I was home. She asked was everything alright. I told her I'd like to talk to her. She opened the door and said "You were in a car wreak tonight about nine weren't you." I told her yes, she said about 9 she got this weird feeling that we had been in a wreak but that we were ok so she was not worried.

If that voice wouldn't have told me to put my seat belt on I would have possibly been thrown out the windshield because of how hard we hit the ditch then went into the field.

Isn't it wierd how mother's just seem to know when you need them even if your not at the same place? I was walking home from a Cubs game one night with my friend and we found out the buses stopped running. So naturally I had been drinking and I tried encouraging my friend that we could walk all the way home. (About 8 or nine miles) My mo called 5 minutes later and said do you need a ride home and I was like, no we could walk. She wouldn't have it and picked us up. That night there was a few rapes so I guess I'm lucky my mom has such strong intuition.

[KaroSnowQueen, RN]

This isn't nursing related, but it happened recently.

My adopted sister was at my son's house babysitting his baby daughter while they were at work. She put the little girl (14 months old) down for a nap and covered her with the blanket up to her chin. A little while later, she went in to check on her, and the baby was lying in the same position but the blanket was neatly folded down to her waist! Tracey pulled the blanket back up to her neck, thinking how odd that was.

This happened twice more in the next hour, but the baby's position never changed! After the third time, Tracey walked back into the kitchen, and said, "Ok, I give up!", and didn't go back into the room until the baby woke up.

After the baby woke up, Tracey took her into the living room, where the baby immediately went over to a photograph of my mother (who has been dead for over 10 years) and started talking to it, and using her word for "mamaw"!!!!

When my son came home that night, I went over and casually asked him if he had ever told the baby who it was in that photograph. He looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "No, why would I? At this age??".

All three of us sisters believe firmly that it is something our mother would do, watch over the baby and do things like fix the blanket "so she wouldn't smother", I can just hear her saying it now. There are three great grandchildren - one of them is in Heaven with mother, one lives with me, and the other lives with my son and his wife. I guess Mom thinks I can watch the one and she will watch the other two!!!!:welcome:

[nursejojo]

I used to watch "Most Haunted," but unfortunately it was outed as a fraud. I felt so gullible. I always thought that Derek guy was over the top. I really believe in TAPS, though. I think they've proven themselves to be very credible.

sorry for such a late reply to this message but just had to say that you are completely right about the show most haunted not being as credible. my dh and i put it on to cheer us up as it enevitably provides us lots of laughs.....whenever he gets possessed the spirits seem to have a scouse[liverpudlian] accentand his co-star always looks like she is going to burst out laughing. just thought i would share. also we get a show shown here in the uk starring an american guy as the psychic and a girl called gail porter. do you guys get it? no sure what its called but it sure scares the c**p out of me x

[grace90, LPN, LVN]

Isn't it wierd how mother's just seem to know when you need them even if your not at the same place?

In 1992 during spring break my older sister and I went down in a van with 14 other people to Austin, Texas. On the way back, another lady who had traveled with us insisted on driving all night. At 7 in the morning it finally caught up with her. She fell asleep at the wheel with all 16 of us in the van- 5 adults and 11 teens- and the van went up a steep enbankment on the side of the Missouri highway, then rolled 3x down it and landed on it's side. Anyway, the spooky side of this was that at exactly that time, my mom and dad woke up feeling like they needed to pray for us.

Around that same time, I was in an accident with my older brother when he was driving me to school. A car cut over right in front of us on the highway, and when we slammed on the brakes, the car behind us slammed into us and sent us into the cement wall on the side. Other cars got around us, but a semi was headed straight for us at high speed and there was no way he could slow down. He purposely jackknifed his semi-truck, and hurt his leg to keep from slamming into us. The spooky side of this was that once again, my dad woke up feeling like he needed to pray for us because we would be in danger, only it was in the middle of the night, the night before.

[brigaily2000]

Hi, This is my 1st post on this board. :) I just had to reply. Although my most significant experiences did not happen as a "nursing ghost story" per se. Although some have.

In 1984, I was preparing to be a bridesmaid in a friends wedding and I was expecting at the time. My friend was having another friend alter our dresses. Well, my dress came back and it was about 3 sizes too big and too long, so my Gram, whom I was very close to, as I was her 1st Grandchild, said, "I'll do the alterations for you honey". During my many fittings, we would always talk about my having her 1st Great Grandchild and how she was also making the netting for the bassinet too. She swore it would be a girl, and made a pink one. As we were getting close to my last fitting, she told me to stand up on the chair with my heels on carefully, as she could not bend over and wanted to check the length. She was 74 yrs young at the time. God I loved her. Well, I put my heel right through the back of the gown, tearing a huge hole in it at the bottom! She calmly told me, "Get down off the chair now Emilee and please go home, I will fix it". I couldn't apologize enough as I walked out the door, she had worked so hard on it for me and I know she was a bit perturbed about it and just didn't want me to see her frustration.

A few nights later, I was sound asleep in bed, when I felt the hair on my forehead being brushed aside and felt a very distinct kiss on it and a very warm embrace. I sat straight up and looked over at my husband at the time, thinking it was him, and he was over on the other side of the bed snoring away. I sat there with an odd feeling I couldn't understand and looked at the clock, it said 10:02pm. I just couldn't shake what I know I felt and had not dreamt.

I got up to get a water and sat on my couch for about 45 mins trying to rationalize what I felt, when my phone rang. It was my Mom and she said, "Em, can you come to the house, Gram passed away about 45 mins ago. She was sitting in her rocking chair around 10pm, said to my Grampa, "Al, I love you, please hold my hand, I'm leaving now", he took her hand confused, and she closed her eyes and passed away". OMG! She came to me while I slept, her final goodbye and kissed me before she moved on. I told my Dad and my Grampa and they both started to cry, as I was her favorite and it comforted them very much. For me, I'll be honest, I was afraid to look in the mirror and see her looking back at me for days. Really. I think I would have had a heart attack myself!

Later on, I took the rocking chair she died in, for when I had my baby. Everyone was too freaked out to sit in it or touch it, but I wasn't. When I had my Son, it was not a girl like she thought, I would rock him in that chair and I felt her there with me. Many times when I was sooo tired doing night feedings, I felt my hair being stroked and such a sense of calm. A few times, I'd see that chair rocking on its own while my son slept. I knew she was there watching over her 1st Great Grandchild and I would see it and say, "Hi Gram, he's beautiful isn't he"? I still when in distress or stressed out, talk to her. I feel her there always. I'll sit in her rocking chair and talk to her. I always feel better afterward and somehow the troubles I had, I found a way to work through them after my "session" with Gram.

Now my Grampa, he didn't do well after she passed. She was his life, being married well over 50 yrs. He would cry every night for her. He replaced every name in his bible with her name, painstakenly handwritting it in! I don't know why, but he did. It gave him comfort. He had developed Alzheimer's and would call only *ME* by my Grams name everytime he saw me, he said, "I see you there". Later on, he developed pneumonia, and lapsed into a coma, and was not given long to live. We would visit him and I can't explain how he looked. It was just not him anymore. He was a shell of a person, who did not come out of his coma. My Dad and I were with him one night, I was talking to him, hoping he heard me when I looked upward and saw a flash of light. I asked my Dad if he saw it and he just looked at me stunned. I knew my Gram had come to take him home. We both took his hand and I said, "Grampa, its okay, take Grams hand now, she's here waiting" and my Dad said, "Its okay Dad, go to Mom now, let go, we love you". No lie, in a coma, unresponsive, he sat straight up in the bed(scared me, I didn't expect that, he was in a coma after all), extended his right arm and hand upward towards the ceiling as if reaching for something, lied back down and he was gone. He took her hand.

I have many more experiences I could post about, even from family pets that have gone to other experiences I have witnessed, but didn't want my 1st post to be too long, as it is already! :wink2: Sorry. Just sharing.

Emilee

I want to hear about the family pets. I lost a dog recently and still grieving. Let's hear about yours.