Few people witness death as often as medical workers. They dedicate their days to saving lives, but when that’s no longer possible, they stay by a patient’s side until the very end. And in those last moments, they often hear words that no one else ever will.

A Redditor recently asked nurses to share the most striking deathbed confessions they’ve heard. Some were heartfelt goodbyes, others shocking admissions, and a few left behind more questions than answers. Keep reading to find out which ones still linger in their minds.

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#1

Brought a pediatric patient back for emergency heart surgery (about 14yrs old). He was very nervous. Outlook looked grim. I held his hand as they began to induce anesthesia. He looked like he was about to cry. I told him there was nothing to worry about. He was gonna be just fine. He gripped my hand super tight as the propfol took hold, looked me in the eye and said “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”. I told him I would be there in PACU when he woke up. He died on the table. I was the last thing he ever saw. 8 years later I still think about that kid. I still see his face. The fear in his eyes. I still feel guilty that I lied right to his face…

EDIT: Didn’t expect this to get as much traction as it did, so I will clarify. I am in a much better place now. I’m still in pediatrics but I have regular therapy and am in a strong place mentally. I appreciate all the kind words. The guilt I feel doesn’t weigh on me like it did all those years ago thankfully. Hug your kids and tell them you love them. ✌️.

© Photo: User

#2

I had a patient tell me she had m*rdered her first husband back in the UK in the 1940’s.

He was an abusive drunk who married her at 16 when he was 40. He beat her black and blue and often fell asleep drunk afterwards.

She said she poisoned him and no one looked into it after he died, just assumed it was the alcohol. She felt it was her only way out as she had no family or friends and she was scared he would k*ll her if she tried to leave.

She moved to Australia straight after and never told a soul, not her second husband nor her children. She lived a lovely life in New Zealand with a husband, several children and a tribe of grandchildren who all loved her but never knew.

#3

Not a nurse and not a confession as such.

My mother was dealing with high blood pressure, increased glucose levels, hyperacidity, cold, and body pains. It all happened in 1.5 days so we never could see it coming, which is why we never took her to the hospital and she was resting at home.

The cold meant she had a stuffy nose hence she was breathing through her mouth and the body pains meant she couldn’t lay still on the bed for any longer than 2 mins. Throughout (what were) the last 4 hours of her life, she was just breathing through her mouth, and getting up to sit upright (because of the back aches from lying down + body pains) and then lying down again (because of no energy in the body from a poor appetite across the day) repeatedly.

In the last 30 mins, she sat upright, dragged herself to the edge of the bed to fall on the floor in a sitting position, and crawled her way across to me where I was sitting on a couch, so I could stay up all night vigilant to her needs. She placed her hands/palms, one over the other, on my thigh and then laid her head on this new makeshift pillow she made for herself, where she slept uninterrupted or without much discomfort for 20 mins – it was the longest duration she managed to sleep across the entire day despite being on bed rest. I made it a point not to move an inch, until a mosquito bit me on the foot and forced an intervention which disrupted her sleep.

It would turn out that her last ever nap was spent in her son’s lap in a somewhat spine-chilling full circle of life. It was quite difficult to see the guiding light of my life leave like that but thanks to the wonderful people around me, I’ve looked at that experience from a perspective of her seeking comfort in those moments of pain from someone she loved so unconditionally and that it is truly a privilege being able to give my mother that comfort before she left.

#4

I’ve got several, but this is one of my favorites. 98 yrs old guy heart failure. Decided to go comfort care only. He was on a lot of meds to keep him comfortable until his room was ready. I was 1:1 with him in the ED. Basically keeping him well so he could pass in peace when his family and friends arrived. I asked him ” so, 98 yrs. What have you learned?” His response was awesome. He said “[intimacy]. If I knew the last time I had it was going to be the last time, I would not have been such a gentleman.” I don’t know why, but in his halting gasps it always makes me laugh. Approach everything with gusto ladies and gentlemen, like it might be your last time.

© Photo: Adubya76

#5

Patient once told me he wished he had worked less and spent more time traveling and being with friends and family. He died the next day, not on my shift. It stuck in my head. A few years later I retired and this was one of the reasons. It changed my perspective.

© Photo: User

#6

I’ve had a few people casually tell me, “I’m going to die today.” The first time someone who was awake, alert and not-in-distress told me that (then died later that day), I was spooked. Then, I learned to believe them.

© Photo: Spirited-Water1368

#7

He didn’t die, BUT… had a patient come into the ER who had a partial airway obstruction. He thought he was a goner. He told his wife on the way in that he’d been having a decades-long affair.

Annnnd of course he ended up being okay. The wife left his room and did NOT come back.

© Photo: User

#8

An old lady told me she had a 22 year long affair with a bus driver, and all five of her adult children might be his.

I didn’t pass that along.

© Photo: Correct_Doctor_1502

#9

Had a patient that was a Covid/Vax denier despite being in an ICU with COVID. His last words were, “I didn’t think it was real”.

© Photo: User

#10

A grumpy, nasty old gentlemen who had an acute deterioration in his COPD and opted for palliative care. We called and called his next of kin to come in and say goodbye but they either didn’t answer or one of them even said “don’t call us back until he’s gone”. He managed to tell us it was because he had married a young Thai bride and had changed his will to leave everything to her but even they had separated and she didn’t want to see him. He had alienated all of his children and had never even met or tried to meet his grandchildren.
Another nurse and I still held his hands, told him it was okay, and played calming music for over an hour while he passed. And afterwards we cried for him and treated his body with the utmost respect as we prepared him for the morgue. No one deserves to die alone and I will never feel bad for showing s**t people kindness. And I think that’s part of why I like being a nurse.

#11

On the opposite side here: I’ve died clinically once (though thankfully I was resuscitated).

I grew up in the slums of Rio. It was extremely violent and the only way to avoid being part of the d**g cartel and not having protection to survive was to be part of a gang. I was part of a gang made only of girls. At the time, the average life expectancy of us there was 23.

When I was 15, I got stabbed in the guts and went down the Dona Marta, which is a very steep way down, to the public hospital at the base. I got there, and I was 200% sure I was gonna die of blood loss.

My last words to the nurse before I passed out were “Will you tell my friends I was brave?” I wasn’t thinking of my parents or my family. I was worried for the other girls.

It seems… extremely sophomoric now, but it meant a lot back then. In a way, reputation was everything, and I didn’t want other gang members to think less of my friends if I died scared.

© Photo: Silverbells_Dev

#12

This doesn’t quite fit as I’m not a nurse, BUT.

Last year my great grandfather passed, I live 4hrs away from my family, my mom gave me a call shortly before his passing to come visit because “it will be the last time I’d see him” (in his late 90’s on hospice, not doing well)

Well, after I’d visited and come home, I get a FaceTime from my mom (she stayed with him along with her mom in his final days). The reason she FaceTimed me was because my great grandpa kept asking for me and saying he needed me. When she put me on the phone with him, all he wanted to ask me was if it is okay that he “moves on to the other side” I assured him that it was okay and no one would be mad at him.

Afterward, my mom told me that he had said I came to him in his sleep last night to help him to the other side and he wanted to talk to me to make sure it was okay to go.

Sure enough he passed that night. I think about it sometimes, an odd feeling that I, for some reason was what helped him let go.

#13

Patient told me they had a dream that they were going to meet me. I was the one to wash their body and prepare them for the morgue once they died.

© Photo: AuroraSkyy77

#14

Working in oncology at the time, had an older gentleman with liver cancer that had spread everywhere including his brain. Having brain mets made him very vague, often nonsensical, he was in and out of consciousness and never really answered questions appropriately in that his answers were very random. This is not unusual for people with brain tumours. He also had a thick Eastern European accent, his kids explained they immigrated from Russia in the late 80s (to Australia).

Our focus was on comfort care for him as he was palliative due to the extensive metastases throughout his body.

Anyways, one day I’m taking his vitals and he grabs my hand, looks me straight in the eyes and just says to me “you know, I have k****d so many people” in his very strong accent. I kind of just froze and didn’t know what to say but he let go and went back to sleep/reduced consciousness.

Often people have a moment of clarity/make sense for a brief episode right before they pass. I didn’t take it as a threat or anything, it just freaked me out. He passed away that evening after my shift was over so I always wondered if this was a deathbed confession of sorts.

© Photo: jmemequeene

#15

I’m a nurse now and honestly have seen much more sudden and traumatic deaths since this one, but this one always is the first I think of. Back when I was a CNA at a nursing home about 6 years ago, our scrub color was either teal, purple or medium blue and that day I happened to wear my new light blue scrubs that were a little brighter than technically allowed. I only add this detail because I think it might have played a role here? There was this one resident who was much younger than most there, only in her mid 60s. She was in really rough physical and mental shape due to severe liver failure and other compounding issues for years. She didn’t have much family visit although I heard she had a husband, and she was there for at least a year. She never spoke more than a moan and couldn’t really maintain eye contact or do much. She would just need to be turned and cleaned up often. The day I was wearing those new scrubs and in there cleaning her like normal, she suddenly looked right at me and in a very soft, clear voice said, “you look like an angel.” I remember being pretty shocked that she spoke out loud and kinda just said, “isn’t this a pretty color??” She went back to being nonverbal the rest of the shift and I remember thinking about it a lot until I went home. When I got back in 2 days later I found out she had died in her sleep that night. I never told anyone she spoke because I started to doubt myself and felt really weird. I also got yelled at for wearing those scrubs since they were technically out of uniform lol. I always will remember that woman even though honestly I don’t think anyone else thinks about her anymore.

#16

That none of her adult kids were her husband’s – and there were 4 of them , and none of them knew.

#17

Wasn’t a confession, but we were called in to transport a patient from the ED to another higher level of care ED. Pt was in a back room, no windows, just kind of sad really. Report was that he had end stage CA, and all the palliative beds were taken & he didn’t have family.
You could tell he didn’t have much time left.

We got him in the back of the ambulance and I could just sense he wanted someone with him when he went. So I held his hand, and I watched him take his last breath at that exact moment.

#18

“I would give all the money I earned to be able to be a present father to my children, and that’s what I will do if I survive” he told me this before he was intubated during the COVID pandemic.

Later I learned that he was a very successful businessman but that he never had time for his family. Today, all companies have practically been sold.

© Photo: User

#19

As a community nurse. The local vicar had a heart attack and was resuscitated by his wife and ambulance staff, into hospital for a bypass. Arrested and resuscitated on the table. Back home and I was seeing him for dressing changes etc. He and I were chatting and he said that ‘God obviously wanted him by his side’…we chuckled.. He went out with his wife in the car for the first time since his discharge that lunchtime and was k*lled by a tractor as they pulled out of the driveway. Wife was fine.

#20

I work in a nursing home. One of our residents was a well-known local pimp in his younger years. It involved filming videos of young girls for his rental business. Nicest man in the world now. Everyone at the nursing home loves him. Another resident harbored a known serial killer when there was a statewide manhunt for him. She was related by marriage and this was what women did for the men back in the day. She’s in the book about it and everything. A third resident did hard time for having stockpiled explosives in his house. There was enough to have wiped out the houses on either side of him. Now in a nursing home, he steals and hoards things like batteries, wires, etc. and is always building something. We’ve even had the police in to toss his room once.

Those are just a couple of backstories I know. It can make caring for people…complicated. You really have to suspend judgement and deal compassionately with what’s right in front of you.

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