The Old Wing

These next experiences are not mine but those of my mother and occurred during the period of time she went sent to work in the Kookaburra wing also know as the old wing. It is a 5 story structure that houses the morgue and the tunnel to the old cremation building. This occurred around 2 years after we had moved out of the house on site. Another male nurse had lived in the house after us but left about 2 months after moving in stating the activity had been violent. The house stood vacant for 10 months before being pulled down along with 20 other houses to make room for a new building with 4 wings, what happened there is a tale for another time.

The old wing was used as both the hospital and morgue for the TB patients. The main 'spirit' of the old wing was that of a former nurse. She passed away at the hospital from TB. None of the nurses minded having her around as she was known to help rather then cause havoc (most of the time). I have seen her on 2 occasions both times she gave me a smile and went on her way. Throughout the building nurses, doctors, cleaning staff and cooks would hear walking, the pushing of trolleys, moving of beds, normal things you would hear in a hospital usually late at night when none of these things should be happening. They would also hear the sounds of distressed patients on the top floor when no patients where housed on this floor; it was all offices.

The two things my mother experience on two different nights with 3 different patients. The first incident no one has been able to explain and has left many confused as to what happened one Saturday. The nurse who was working night shift with my mother had just walked out of a room that was home to two dementia patients who were both unable to move on their own and had to be pushed in wheel chairs. One patient had a plastic sheet on her bed because she had lost all control for her bowel. The nurse had checked them and headed back to the nurse station. In the room were 4 beds, 2 empty. My mother and the other nurse were sitting in the nurse station when the buzzer went off for one of the empty beds. Nothing unusual as they were always playing up. So anyway my mother decides to get up and check just to make sure everything was fine, only to find the patients had swapped beds, which is impossible because of their health, so the lady who had the plastic sheet was now in the bed without them. Mum knew her and the other nurse couldn't move them without help so they moved the beds so the patients were on the right side of the rooms and decided to get help when day shift came on (my stepdad and 2 other nurses). But it doesn't stop there, half an hour later the buzzer goes again, so once again my mother goes to check on them and they have swapped beds AGAIN. Confused at what was going on my mother left the patients as they were and spent the rest of the night in the nurses quarters convinced she was mad.

The next event happened 5 months later on a Wednesday shift. The patient it happened to always had something to complain about and was continually pressing her buzzer so they took it away from her and resorted to checking on her every hour to make sure she was still alive and complaining as they would say. On this Wednesday shift, my mother checked on her and she was sleeping so she returned to the nurses station. That was around 10. At 4 am the buzzer that would have been connected to her bed if it was there, started going off. Mom thought someone has plugged it back in, so she went to see what the lady wanted. As soon as she got close to the room she could hear the patient screaming saying, "Get me off this bloody thing, it's hurting my behind." Obviously my mother was confused, when she walked into the room the patient started going off about being left on the bed pan for an hour (patient was over weight and unable to get out of bed to go to the toilet). My mother pulled the bed pan out and asked the lady who put her on it she said, "The nurse in the white dress with the red cross on her hat. Bring her in here so I can give her a piece of my mind." The thing is no one wore a white dress expect for the nurses that work in the TB hospital and we believe her to be the nurse that passed away there. The current nurses wear navy blue shirts with white spots and black slacks.

The building is still in use but only as offices. They still hear the noises as if though it's an operating hospital. The morgue is still used.