Nurse Share Their Scariest Stories from Working the Night Shift

Lots of workers fear the night shift, and for good reason. It’s dark, patients tend to act out, you’re one of the only people working, and you have to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning, which throws off your sleep schedule. The night shift also comes with a lot of responsibility. You are one of the only people who can respond in the event of an emergency. From haunted call lights to full-blown crisis, nurses dish on their scariest stories from working all through the night.

My colleague and I were sitting in the corridor looking through the lounge of a nursing home and we both watched a black shadow drift inside the door and right through the lounge!

Buzzers going off in empty rooms!

One of my schizophrenic residents went missing. There were no visitors other than the shadow. We searched all over the facility to look for her, afraid that she may have been abducted by some malevolent spirit.

I peeked inside a wardrobe full of uniforms and found her purring like a cat. 😲😲😲

Still one of the strangest experiences of my life. 

Pamela

I got spooked when I noticed the call lights were going off in empty rooms. We kept checking them but there was no one there. I started looking at the security cameras to see if someone from one of the other wards was playing a trick on us. 

I looked at the monitor and saw someone in all white with an old school nurse hat walking down the hallway. I went to the other night nurse who was stationed at the front desk. I told her about the old school nurse creeping and they said no one had walked by. 

We later found out no one has worn those hats in 30+ years…

Molly

Nothing gets me like the sound of children playing and laughing. No wonder they use it in so many horror movies.

I first heard it during the night shift when I worked in pediatrics. It was around 3 AM and we heard a child giggling somewhere off in the distance. 

The nurse I shared a pod with made me check every patient room on the floor immediately but all the kids were asleep in their rooms. 

We went back to our station and heard the same giggle come out of the last room at the end of the hall. But this time it was even louder. By the time I turned around, I was alone because the nurse I shared the pod with took off running and crying down the hall 🤣😂🤣.

We never found the source of the laughter, and I still think about it to this day. 

Carleigh

I had a patient pass away and a few weeks after one of the elevators kept going up and down in the building. It was only myself and an aide on night shift, she was just as freaked out as I was!

I walked to the elevator and said, “Tom, please stop making the elevator do that, thank you for coming to visit. We miss you but please you’re scaring the bejesus out of us.”

The doors closed and it went to the 3rd floor (his room was on the 3rd floor) and didn’t do it for the rest of the night.

Kelly

Working assisted living as a pool nurse. I was walking through the sitting area, and I spoke to a man in a cardigan sitting on the couch. Later, I asked the staff about the fellow sitting there. They said he was the janitor who passed and likes to stop by and sit sometimes 😳.

Denise

I went to an empty room where a patient had just died and out of the blue I yelled out his name, “Jim are you still here?” 

The bathroom door opened by itself! I think I peed a little while run-walking!

Mel

I remember working at night in an old facility with a rundown elevator. There was a floor in the basement that was dark and empty except for the spirits of patients past. 

I swore to myself I would never set foot on the floor because it gave me the creeps. But every time I would get in, it kept taking me to the same floor no matter what button I pushed.

I about had a panic attack. I just knew Michael Myers was gonna be standing there when the door opened. I waited there for a few minutes, frantically pushing the button to close the door. I looked into the darkness and heard a strange sound. 

Finally, the door closed and went back up to the main floor, but I was never the same again. 

Sherry

When I was working the night shift, I would get bored and go to the vending machine to eat more than I should have. It was a great way to pass the time until something creepy happened. 

The only machine was in the basement, but I didn’t mind walking through the halls alone. I went down to the basement for a soda at around 3 AM. That’s when I heard what sounded like a little girl say… “Help me.” 

I got the hell out of there and always brought my own soda from there on out.

Christine

Thanks to everyone who shared their scary stories from the night shift. You might want to keep a light on just in case…