Body Odour:

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Some staff and some patients has complained to the ward manager regarding one of the nurse with severe body odour. It so bad you can tell which room she has been in.

The ward manager had to take her a side to address this issue and at the time nurse said to the manager that she is happy that the manager has mentioned this to her. She further went to say to the manager that she know she has this problem and has already seen GP about it and has some tablets prescribed.

But now i have heard that this nurse is upset and seeking advice from the union regarding discrimination. And that there will some sort of investigation. Not sure what will happen next.

What do other think?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

very hard situation, I had a similar issue but not with body odour but shoes and ended up spending a fortune on shoes trying to get it sorted as it only happened with working shoes not normal everyday shoes

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Specializes in ICU, SDU, OR, RR, Ortho, Hospice RN.

There are those out there that have this 'odor' that even taking medications etc does not cover it up. The name of it escapes my brain right at this minute.

Don't know where she is coming from with the discrimination angle in regards to the odor.

The manager had a quiet chat with her about this which is what I would expect any manager to do.

She is still working, getting her patient load etc so where does the discrimination come into play?:uhoh21:

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Specializes in med/surg.

It doesn't sound like she has been discriminated against.

It also seems that you can prove that - re patient assignments etc etc so she won't have a leg to stand on even if she did take up the case.

I hope her union rep is sensible about this & doesn't try to score points on a wild goose chase.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

We have a male nurse at work who smells like an ashtray, it got so bad that all the staff started complaining. The boss saw him and actually bought him fabreeze!! now when he smells we look at hime and he sprays himself. He understood. Why should other people suffer body odour/nasty smells at work.

The OP's staff member obviously has a medical problem and that must be terrible for her, but I do not believe she can possibly have a case of discrimination. Afterall I am presuming the manager did not know that she had this medical problem when she spoke with her. If this person continues to be spoken to then she may have a case

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Specializes in Staff nurse.
Some staff and some patients has complained to the ward manager regarding one of the nurse with severe body odour. It so bad you can tell which room she has been in.

The ward manager had to take her a side to address this issue and at the time nurse said to the manager that she is happy that the manager has mentioned this to her. She further went to say to the manager that she know she has this problem and has already seen GP about it and has some tablets prescribed.

But now i have heard that this nurse is upset and seeking advice from the union regarding discrimination. And that there will some sort of investigation. Not sure what will happen next.

What do other think?

Yeah, I can see why she would be upset, esp. if it isn't self-induced, and she IS getting medical help for it. But we have to remember that an odor can be very devastating for sick people, how are her patients dealing with the smell?

When I was a student nurse I had a patient whose daughter came to visit. This daughter was so malodorous I had to leave the room and get my inhaler out...and found out I wasn't the only one!! When she got out of her chair to go to the cafeteria, there was a huge wet spot on the chair, I had to call housekeeping to clean it with the superstrength. Then I called the cafeteria to alert them if this visitor sat in the dining area to be sure to clean her chair ASAP after she left. It was a horrible stench.

When she got back to her mom's room I mentioned to her that her pants had moisture on them and maybe she would be more comfortable if she went home to change (she was too big to give scrub pants to). I was thinking she had a fungal infection in addition to whatever else IT was.

But discrimination?

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Discrimination? We all are from different ethnic background and different cultures and so this nurse feels that she has been singled out becuase of her background. But that is not true. The truth is that she has terrible body odour and she needs sort it out. We are simply protecting our patients.

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Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.
There are those out there that have this 'odor' that even taking medications etc does not cover it up. The name of it escapes my brain right at this minute.

Trimethylaminuria :wink2:

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I don't know about discrimination but it does seem like the other employees shouldn't know the wording of what went on in her "quiet talk with the manager" shouldn't the manager have kept that info to herself. Maybe the talk of discrimination is just embarrassment and hurt feelings from having everyone know a little too much of her private business.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I don't know about discrimination but it does seem like the other employees shouldn't know the wording of what went on in her "quiet talk with the manager" shouldn't the manager have kept that info to herself. Maybe the talk of discrimination is just embarrassment and hurt feelings from having everyone know a little too much of her private business.

There was nothing in the post to indicate that other employees knew what went on with the chat.

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Sorry ...I got the impression was said in the manager's chat from the orginal poster's statement "the nurse said to the manager she is happy that the manager mentioned this to her" and "she went farther to say that she know she has this problem has seen GP about it and is taking tablets" Since it was private chat I believed that was repeated by the manager.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Sorry ...I got the impression was said in the manager's chat from the orginal poster's statement "the nurse said to the manager she is happy that the manager mentioned this to her" and "she went farther to say that she know she has this problem has seen GP about it and is taking tablets" Since it was private chat I believed that was repeated by the manager.

She would have a good case if the manager had said things to others but the impression I get from the OP was manager had chat, was thanked and made aware she was trying to do something about it and the manager then heard she was taking it further. The manager probably then discussed it with someone else for further support. Have seen it a few times where reason it comes out is because someone not happy with whatever manager has said and then complains to everyone else.

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