Smelly co-worker

S.N. Visit, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2008

You will end up offending/embarrassing her by bringing the situation to her attention. Being passive aggresive as I am, I would spray the room with professional grade room deodorizer as aften as needed and say "Whew, do you smell that , something is really stinky in here?"....... after awhile she may begin to suspect its her.

RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2008

I work with a nurse who smells really bad. People will walk into our unit and say "ooh, it smells like a dirty mop in here!" I don't think she realizes how bad she smells. Other nurses have gone to our managers and they haven't said anything to her, sometimes they just laugh about it. This is not appropriate. What will the families think? We work in a fairly small unit and she will smell up the whole room. Would you send her an anonymous letter?
What would you do??

Yes, I would, but make it as nice as possible.

lunden · Oct 30, 2008

i would honestly just tell her because some people really don't know they are offending people.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2008

Honesty is the best policy, with tact of course. I would want to be told if I was smelling. Just pull her aside in private and say something like "Kay I am sure your not aware of it, but in close quarters I am able to smell you. Now I know I have a sensitive nose but I just wanted to give you a heads up that you may want to switch deoderants-I started using Suaves 24hour and let me tell you, it really works"

Tell her, but then put it on you, you are sensitive to smells, you had to switch deoderants etc etc. Keep a nice smile on your face and be real sweet about it.

Then drop it, you let her know and now it is up to her to do something with the information.

MA Nurse · Oct 30, 2008

i would honestly just tell her because some people really don't know they are offending people.

That would be hard to do...do you think you could do that? Apparently, she has smelled this way for years, and I don't think a bath and body set will help. I'm not sure if there's a medical reason or what, but I think it's the manager's job to tell an employee when there's an issue like this, don't you?

DA314 · Oct 30, 2008

I think you shold just ignore it. Imagine how she feels. People are talking about her behind her back and telling management that she smells bad?

If it bothers you that much, at Christmas, maybe give her a body spray or lotion that smells good, but say it is because she has helped you out so much throughout the year or something.

MA Nurse · Oct 30, 2008

Honesty is the best policy, with tact of course. I would want to be told if I was smelling. Just pull her aside in private and say something like "Kay I am sure your not aware of it, but in close quarters I am able to smell you. Now I know I have a sensitive nose but I just wanted to give you a heads up that you may want to switch deoderants-I started using Suaves 24hour and let me tell you, it really works"
Tell her, but then put it on you, you are sensitive to smells, you had to switch deoderants etc etc. Keep a nice smile on your face and be real sweet about it.
Then drop it, you let her know and now it is up to her to do something with the information.

She smells up an entire room that's not real small, honestly, it's really bad. Esp. if other people walk in from outside and say it smells like a dirty mop! I don't think it's underarm odor either. :madface:

MA Nurse · Oct 30, 2008

I think you shold just ignore it. Imagine how she feels. People are talking about her behind her back and telling management that she smells bad?
If it bothers you that much, at Christmas, maybe give her a body spray or lotion that smells good, but say it is because she has helped you out so much throughout the year or something.

If it affected your work and visitors, don't you think you would not be able to work comfortably near this person?

I don't think she knows people are talking about it. If you smelled that bad, I think you would figure it out after awhile.

uscstu4lfe · Oct 30, 2008

we have the same problem. one of our charge nurses stinks up to high heaven. it's a strong must that fills any room quickly. she does not smell like that at the beginning of the shift. however, as hours pass, it gets stronger and stronger, and by the end it's unbearable. i'm not sure if she's able to control that since it's something that works up over time?

PedsAtHeart, LPN · Oct 30, 2008

management should be the one telling her. My mom is in management and she has no problem telling people that they need to clean up. Yeah it may be embarrassing for that person. But better off in the long run. And it can be done tactfully, you dont go into it trying to hurt their feelings. If it is that bad then it has to be offensive to the patients too. Where I work we have an "offensive odor" policy, meaning that we cannot wear any lotions, perfumes, body spray, or smell like cigarette smoke if it can be smelled from more than an arm length away.

DA314 · Oct 30, 2008

Exactly how is she interfering with work? Because people don't like the way she smells?

I think personal hygiene is very important, but we have to also be sensitive to other cultures and religions. I have not idea what nationality/religion this person it, so I am not comfortable with suggesting she go right up and tell this lady that she smells badlu.

If it were a problem of patient safety then the manager would have rectified the situation.

And if someone came up to me and told me I stunk, I would be very upset. Especially if I were of another culture or religion that maybe contributed to the smell.

For instance, the things we eat greatly influence the way we smell. Whether or not we are permitted to wear perfume. Some cultures don't bathe daily. Some people are just too poor to afford hot water and soap every day. You can't just rush in and make this woman feel badly without knowing the whole story.

Compassion would be helpful here.