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Ghostly Guests in the Nursing Home

2023; Elsevier BV; Volume: 24; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.carage.2023.08.010

2377-066X

Joanne Kaldy,

Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes

Ghostly voices captured on recording devices, footsteps when no one is there, lights that go on and off by themselves, and items that mysteriously move from one place to another. Your average ghost hunter will say that places with a history of illness, suffering, and death are more likely to be sites of such phenomena. While those who work in nursing homes know that people also heal, laugh, love, and live in these settings, these facilities sometimes are connected with rumors of hauntings. Some people like a good scary story, and others are just fascinated by or interested in things they can’t explain. As Halloween approaches, these kinds of stories proliferate, and nursing homes are part of the lore. Ask Lisa Sweet, RN, a long-time nursing home certified nurse assistant (CNA) and now nurse, who early in her career worked the night shift at a nursing home widely considered to be haunted. Ms. Sweet’s workplace started as a tuberculosis hospital early in the 20th century and was converted to a nursing home in the 1960s. “It was a creepy place to walk into, and it had an old rickety elevator — the kind with the gate you had to pull shut,” she recalled. It was necessary to actually push a button manually to get the elevator to move, and she said that many times it would come from the unoccupied fourth floor of the building. “It made me so uncomfortable that I would take the stairs instead,” she said. Not surprisingly, there was lots of talk in the building about its history and possible hauntings. One story, Ms. Sweet said, involved a nurse who had worked in the facility when it was still a tuberculosis hospital. When that nurse retired, she had no place to go, and the powers that be gave her a room on the fourth floor of the building. She continued to work with residents a bit and enjoyed a sense of purpose, and she died there as well. “Some of the older CNAs said they saw apparitions of her. They would see her coming down from the top floor. I saw her once on the landing. She didn’t look at me or see me. She vanished after a few seconds,” Ms. Sweet said. She knew it was the nurse because she was dressed in a white uniform with an old-fashioned nurses’ cap, and she was wearing a red sweater, which the woman had often worn in life. Ms. Sweet found another encounter harder to explain. “I would also get a soda from the machine between about 2:45 and 3:15 a.m. almost every night. As I went down the stairs to the machine, I would smell cologne — it was sweet and heavy, like an older woman would wear. But there were no residents on that floor, and the only nurse in the area was a man,” said Ms. Sweet. The experience didn’t make her uncomfortable; it was just odd and without explanation. She added that the nurse who worked on that floor didn’t believe her — until he smelled it himself. Some spooky experiences are less definitive. For instance, Ms. Sweet had to give shots of penicillin to a female resident over several nights. The woman shared a room with two other residents, so Ms. Sweet would bring a flashlight so as not to waken them. She recalled, “A few times when I was giving her the shot, I would feel someone behind me, touching me and breathing on my neck. I didn’t feel threatened, but it made me uncomfortable.” In another nursing home where Ms. Sweet worked, she said, “There was a room at the end of the hall where a resident lived. He used the call light constantly. When he passed away, the room sat empty. Often in the middle of the night, the call light would go off. We would go to the room to check, but no one was ever there.” The building maintenance person checked it out but could find no reason for the light to malfunction. People who live or work with people at the end of life often report some unusual, otherworldly interactions. Judith Bird, who has worked as an expressive arts and Reiki practitioner in hospice, recalled several instances where dying patients had visitors that only they could see. For instance, she said, “One time I was sitting with a patient, and she said, ‘I have visitors.’ I asked her where they were, and she said, ‘They’re right there. Don’t you see them?’” Another patient, a vision-impaired woman, said there were children running around her room when no one was there. Once, she noted, a close friend of hers was dying, and Ms. Bird would go to visit her friend. “We would talk, and she would nod off. At one point, she nodded off and woke up and said that she was just visiting with people who were dead, and she was confused about which world she was in.” The most common “visitor,” Ms. Bird said, was usually a patient’s mother. “People would often say things like, ‘My mother is here.’ Or ‘my mother is waiting.’” Although she never had a patient say they saw anyone or anything frightening, one patient was afraid nonetheless. Ms. Bird explained, “She was very ill, and said she was afraid that when she died, she would see her father. He had been terribly abusive to her, and she never wanted to see him again. She was afraid that she would encounter him in death.” When someone reports seeing a spirit or ghost, said Amy Schold, LCSW, a New Orleans-based therapist, they likely really think they’ve seen something. “If someone says they are talking to their mother, I would say something like, ‘That is lovely.’” As with patients who have dementia and talk about things that aren’t true or real, it’s important to meet people where they are and not tell them that there’s no one there or that they’re imagining things. Ms. Schold also noted that there are some practical reasons behind claims of seeing spirits. “Some people may suffer from a delusional disorder, or someone with Alzheimer’s disease may confuse someone like an adult child with a deceased family member they resemble,” she said. It is also common for individuals to experience hallucinations at the end of life as the brain and other organ systems begin to shut down. If staff report seeing something or a rumor is circulating about a haunting, Ms. Schold said, “Typically, you want to normalize things for people. Encourage them to talk to you or someone else they trust if they see something. If they’re frightened, talk to them about what would make them feel more comfortable.” Ms. Sweet said, “In my case, it was validating when other CNAs shared their experiences. It confirmed for me that I wasn’t hallucinating or losing my mind.” She added, “I have found over the years it’s hard to talk about these kinds of things with some people. They just don’t believe in spirits and can’t be convinced otherwise.” She observed, “Personally, I think that there are troubled souls who can’t or don’t want to move on. I think that was the case of the nurse in the red sweater.” Larger, older facilities in particular may look ominous or imposing, and this can lead to imaginations running wild. Pi Architects’ Darren Azdell, AIA, Leed BD+C, suggested, “Bringing in more natural light and creating a more homelike environment with warm, inviting furnishings and indoor and outdoor plants and flowers can make facilities feel more comfortable.” He added, “It may be possible to add LED lighting down hallways so the light can change to warm from cool depending on the time of day. This will get rid of harsh lights that cast large shadows.” Choosing a paint palate that is light and engaging also can help spaces seem more friendly. As you walk the halls of your facility this Halloween and a nurse you don’t know passes you in the hall, just say “hello” and don’t be surprised if you turn around and she’s gone. Senior contributor Joanne Kaldy is a freelance writer in New Orleans, LA, and a communications consultant for the Society and other organizations.