2 nurse superstitions that are actually true

Shutterstock | Stefano Tinti

Have you ever tied a knot in your patient’s sheet to help them stay alive or avoided work during a full moon? If so, you’re not alone.

We asked the nurses on the Funny Nurses Facebook page to tell us about their strange nursing superstitions. The response we received was overwhelming—everything from opening a window after a patient dies to bringing multiple catheter kits into a patient’s room to ensure you succeed on the first try.

True superstition #1

“4am is the witching hour when people tend to die, although this has been proven to be accurate on some levels due to circadian rhythm.” —Ann H.

Countless nurses reported that when the middle-of-the-night witching hour hits (typically between 3am and 5am), the Grim Reaper is sure to be nearby. While the myth that circadian rhythm can predict time of death is true, it’s not the middle of the night that nurses need to be wary of.

A study published in the Annals of Neurology found that humans are most likely to die in the late morning at approximately 11am. Just as there’s a time of day we’re most likely to wake up or fall asleep naturally, there’s also a time of day we’re most likely to pass. This superstition is fact.

Visit page 2 to read true superstition #2!