Night Shift Naughtiness

Night shift in a government hospital is when things *really* go down. When fun can occur at any moment. Where there is no Matron checking up on you. Where you can discover ghosts and mysteries.. Or so I thought.

My first experience of night duty was in a medical admissions ward (busy one night and quite literally dead quiet the next night when you aren't on intake). Thankfully, I was allocated into this ward with one of my best friends, Christa.

Over my years of studying, I had heard many ghost stories from within the hospital walls. And what better time to explore than during night shift? The one surgical ward had the most incidences: doors slamming closed, patient buzzers ringing in empty rooms, lights flickering.. Some may say this is due to poor workmanship and cheap products - this is public sector afterall. But I was, and am, in denial.

In went Christa and I to explore. Immediately upon entering the ward, we heard soft moaning coming from the kitchen. A ghost that died from 3rd degree burns after an urn fell on her!? No. In we walked to find about 7 staff members fast asleep. One was even sleeping on top of the warming drawer. The moans were actually snores.

We quickly moved on to a medical ward renowned for deaths. Christa sat to prevent varicose veins while I explored. Walking past a room, I saw someone tall standing next to a bed, looking over a patient! I closed my eyes tight and when I opened them again, he was still there! Jackpot! My first ghost sighting! I ran to call Christa. When we got back, I hurriedly switched on the lights to catch him in the act of possibly murdering the innocent patient. It was a drip stand. A drip stand draped with the innocent patients' jacket.

Leaving 8 annoyed, angry and now awake patients with contagious conditions, we gave up the ghost hunt and finished with a boring, uneventful and murder-free night. We sat and watched a DVD, but every time we heard the 'click-clack' of a surprise-visiting Matrons' heels, we ran into a room to pretend we were very busy with patients. You would think that (after years of training), matrons would be smart enough to wear shoes that don't announce their entrance into the wards?

As 5AM rolled on, and feeling too guilty to sleep, I resorted to throwing objects into Christa's open mouth as she was passed out at the nurse's station. Prestik, pieces of paper, elastic bands.. Running out of throwing material, I resorted to a bunch of keys that had most probably been dropped in urine and faeces countless times and got a slam dunk! Don't know how I thought she would sleep through that though. I quickly pretended to be asleep with a slight smile on my face.