In 2010, I went to the Philippines for college and took up nursing at a University. Our major nursing classes were usually held on the 5th floor, because that was where the nursing laboratories were located. It was a huge room; the classroom took one half of the room and the other half (which was separated by a center divider that stood from the ceiling to the floor) was a replica hospital room, with beds on the right side, and a small room known as the operating room.
On the classroom side, the armchairs faced the replica hospital. The chairs were setup set up similar to a movie theater, where each row of chairs went higher on a wide stairs platform. I always preferred to sit in front because of my eyesight. The center divider was usually kept closed, and the instructors would tell students that they close the dividers to prevent us from getting "distracted" by the replica hospital. As freshmen at the time, we had no idea what the instructors meant.
During one of our lectures, the center divider was left halfway open, revealing the operating room side of the replica hospital. Unfortunately, I was sitting in front across the operating room. Halfway through the lecture my eyes got tired, so I took my glasses off and zoned out. I caught myself staring at the operating room door, which had a small glass window. I watched as light reflected on and off of it. At that time, I was thinking that the light was coming from car headlights outside -but wait- we were on the fifth floor. Realization hit so I put my glasses back on and took a good look at the door. The reason why light was reflecting on and off of it was because it was swinging back and forth, at a consistent speed as if someone was playing with it.
I considered that it might have been the wind, but there were no windows leading to the outside in the replica hospital. I watched as the door swung continuously. The person beside me noticed me staring at something and gasped when she saw what I was seeing. The instructor paused and asked us what we were looking at. We told her that the operating door was moving on its own, so with her laser pointer (used during discussion) she turned around and pointed the red light at the door. The moment the laser hit the door, the swinging stopped. The whole room went quiet, and the instructor closed the center divider without a word or comment on what just happened.
There was another time when I saw a person in white walking at the far end of the replica hospital. Since clinical instructors and students all wore white uniform, I just assumed that it was our clinical instructors so I ignored it. After about 20 minutes, I started to wonder why the instructor wasn't coming in to begin the lecture. At that moment, the instructor came through the door apologizing for being late while trying to catch his breath.
These encounters aren't uncommon among the clinical instructors and students. I've heard a lot of scary stories about the nursing laboratory, but I never thought that we would get to experience something first-hand. In addition, a cadaver room is located on the fourth floor directly below the nursing laboratory.
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