Ghost story

Nursing, Aug 2004 by Bentley, Michelle

"MICHELLE, WOULD YOU come here for a moment?" my charge nurse asked. I joined her at the bedside of Sarah, 26, who was N.P.O. after a cholecystectomy. "Where did that come from?" my charge nurse asked, pointing to a cup holding half-melted ice chips.

"I have no idea," I responded. I'd been in Sarah's room several times that night, checking her condition and monitoring her I.V. line and nasogastric tube. Each time I'd stopped in, Sarah had been sound asleep, but she was awake now.

Sarah told us that her nurse, "Mary," had given her the ice chips to soothe her stomach. Our small hospital didn't employ anyone named Mary, and everyone in the unit knew that Sarah was N.P.O.

Sarah said Mary had brown, shoulder-length hair and pretty green eyes. Dressed in a crisp white uniform and spotless white shoes, Mary had appeared when Sarah rang the bell. Sarah said that Mary had told her that she wasn't supposed to have anything to eat or drink but that slowly sucking ice chips would help her feel better.

Sarah insisted that Mary had come to see her twice more during the night, fluffing her pillow, bringing more ice chips, and telling her in a reassuring voice, "I'll make sure you have the best of care."

The charge nurse and I exchanged glances. I picked up the ice chips and we left the room.

We didn't tell Sarah that "Mary" was the name of a nurse who'd worked the night shift in our unit for 20 years until her sudden death 5 years earlier. Since then, various patients had reported being cared for by an unknown nurse at night, but Sarah was the first to know the nurse's name and provide such a vivid description.

Until this night, I'd thought our patients' reports of a mystery nurse at the bedside arose simply from the fading effects of anesthesia. As I stared at the melting ice chips in my hand, I wasn't so sure.

BY MICHELLE BENTLEY, RN, CDE, BSN

Michelle Bentley is a home health care nurse with Any Time Home Care, Inc., in Albany, N.Y.