Post by "Mysti" on Jul 8, 2005 0:06:14 GMT -5
When I was first studying for my CNA I worked at a facility in West Des Moines on the 3-11 shift.
Which meant part of my job was getting residents settled into bed for the evening.
The facility was a really nice one and was not really old, infact it was actually one of the newer ones out there. And it was one of the first of Iowa's facility's to actually allow animals to live in the home. Ours was a huge gray cat (can't remember his name) who had a bell on his collar.
One of my residents I worked with every night happened to be a very sweet old colored lady who was blind, and one of her favorite things to do was ask me if I'd seen him/ her (naming a 1st shift co worker) as I was coming on duty. And when I'd say "yes" she'd always answer with "well all I did was hear them....yack yack yack all day" and so this was a running joke with us.
One night as I was in helping get her ready for bed, as I stepped into the restroom to put away her misc. toiletries I heard what I thought was the cats bell ringing in her room, and heard her talking to whom I thought was the cat. As I stepped back into the room she was carrying on a conversation but nobody was there.
Of course I asked who she was talking to, and she gave me a funny look and told me "the night nurse, mrs. Such & Such" I'd never heard of her, but I was new? I stood there for a minute and then walked into the hall, nobody there. Not sure what to think I asked where she had went, to which I got told "ok you, I'm blind what's your excuse, she just walked out"
Going back out into the hallway I checked the rest of the floor, there was nobody there but me and the other aid (who was working the other end of the hall) I asked her if the nurse had been up on our floor or if the cat had been...no she didn't remember seeing them.
I was walking back into her room when I heard the sound again and upon entering again nobody was there. Not sure what to say by this time I decided to play it off but as I was pulling up her bed rail she asked why I hadn't spoken to the nurse as she left. At first I didn't want to answer but I finally said that I hadn't seen her. (I have to say I loved this lady because her reply made the rest of my night much easier.)
She proceeded to tell me that if I'd been in her room 2 different times while the nurse was standing there and both times I hadn't seen her, then either I was the Blind one, or she was talking to a ghost. And that apparently since it happened twice it must be the latter of the 2. Then she told me, that she liked that idea, "she was getting in good with the other side, and knew she'd have a nurse right there on call." her reply helped take the spook out and we both laughed at the idea, and then I told her goodnight.
After I left her room, I was headed to the next room when our charge nurse came onto our hall. So naturally I asked if she or the cat had been on the floor a few minutes earlier, to which she said "No" the cat was on the first floor sleeping and she had just came up. So innocently I said well then maybe it was the night nurse Mrs. S&S, and I just really hadn't seen her slip in or out. My charge nurse looked at me for a minute and asked what would make me say that? So I proceeded to tell her what had occured just minutes before then.
She was leary about it at first, but then told me that Mrs. S&S had once been the night nurse, but she had passed away a couple years earlier, and before the lady I was caring for had even came to the facility. Ok this was strange enough, but the icing on the cake was when the nurse told me that Mrs. S&S always carried a bell on her key ring so that everyone would know she was in the hall. (she was also the one who had came up with the idea for the bell on the cats collar).
After that night I always listened extra close, and if I heard bells and cat wasn't there I knew who it was, and would say "hello". I decided like my resident had, I was going to be on "Mrs.S&S" good side if I were dealing with ghost.
Which meant part of my job was getting residents settled into bed for the evening.
The facility was a really nice one and was not really old, infact it was actually one of the newer ones out there. And it was one of the first of Iowa's facility's to actually allow animals to live in the home. Ours was a huge gray cat (can't remember his name) who had a bell on his collar.
One of my residents I worked with every night happened to be a very sweet old colored lady who was blind, and one of her favorite things to do was ask me if I'd seen him/ her (naming a 1st shift co worker) as I was coming on duty. And when I'd say "yes" she'd always answer with "well all I did was hear them....yack yack yack all day" and so this was a running joke with us.
One night as I was in helping get her ready for bed, as I stepped into the restroom to put away her misc. toiletries I heard what I thought was the cats bell ringing in her room, and heard her talking to whom I thought was the cat. As I stepped back into the room she was carrying on a conversation but nobody was there.
Of course I asked who she was talking to, and she gave me a funny look and told me "the night nurse, mrs. Such & Such" I'd never heard of her, but I was new? I stood there for a minute and then walked into the hall, nobody there. Not sure what to think I asked where she had went, to which I got told "ok you, I'm blind what's your excuse, she just walked out"
Going back out into the hallway I checked the rest of the floor, there was nobody there but me and the other aid (who was working the other end of the hall) I asked her if the nurse had been up on our floor or if the cat had been...no she didn't remember seeing them.
I was walking back into her room when I heard the sound again and upon entering again nobody was there. Not sure what to say by this time I decided to play it off but as I was pulling up her bed rail she asked why I hadn't spoken to the nurse as she left. At first I didn't want to answer but I finally said that I hadn't seen her. (I have to say I loved this lady because her reply made the rest of my night much easier.)
She proceeded to tell me that if I'd been in her room 2 different times while the nurse was standing there and both times I hadn't seen her, then either I was the Blind one, or she was talking to a ghost. And that apparently since it happened twice it must be the latter of the 2. Then she told me, that she liked that idea, "she was getting in good with the other side, and knew she'd have a nurse right there on call." her reply helped take the spook out and we both laughed at the idea, and then I told her goodnight.
After I left her room, I was headed to the next room when our charge nurse came onto our hall. So naturally I asked if she or the cat had been on the floor a few minutes earlier, to which she said "No" the cat was on the first floor sleeping and she had just came up. So innocently I said well then maybe it was the night nurse Mrs. S&S, and I just really hadn't seen her slip in or out. My charge nurse looked at me for a minute and asked what would make me say that? So I proceeded to tell her what had occured just minutes before then.
She was leary about it at first, but then told me that Mrs. S&S had once been the night nurse, but she had passed away a couple years earlier, and before the lady I was caring for had even came to the facility. Ok this was strange enough, but the icing on the cake was when the nurse told me that Mrs. S&S always carried a bell on her key ring so that everyone would know she was in the hall. (she was also the one who had came up with the idea for the bell on the cats collar).
After that night I always listened extra close, and if I heard bells and cat wasn't there I knew who it was, and would say "hello". I decided like my resident had, I was going to be on "Mrs.S&S" good side if I were dealing with ghost.
"TT"
