Any tips with smells? Please!!!

RN_PICU · Dec 7, 2011

I lost my sense of smell after 5-6 months and now even wide open septic tank would not get my attention... That being said, to get over the initial phase all I did was breath trough my mouth, and when even that didn't help I would used surgical mask.

RNfaster · Dec 7, 2011

Peppermint oil on the nose helped me. Now I am used to stinky smells. I also try to focus on elements of the smell. For example, I sometimes notice that gangrene smells like rotten apples.

Good Morning, Gil · Dec 7, 2011

It does get better with experience. Advice: just try to get the unpleasant task done quickly, and try not to focus on the smell. Breathe through your mouth (but then sometimes if it smells really bad, you taste it lol). You'll become more immune after experience, and always have some odor eliminator spray handy when you empty out a colostomy bag, and maybe have some deodorizer for it (that's pretty cheap, so most places have it).

One more thing: just make sure you are aware of your facial expression when you are doing unpleasant things b/c you don't want to make the patient feel that they disgust you (they are already self-conscious if they're a/o). Good luck!

campton · Dec 7, 2011

From what I've heard from many people is that you just get used to it, simple as that. Over time, the smells won't be as bad and you'll be able to handle it...maybe not even notice it anymore.

MzMouse · Dec 7, 2011

I am fortunate to not have much of a sense of smell; probably due to years of allergies. Even when an oder is particularly bad it just doesn't really bother me.

If something is getting to me I do my best to forget about the smell and concentrate on the patient. I know it sounds sort of trite, but it does work. It will get better as you get more exposure to smells and get used to it.

Cat_RN, ASN, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2011

Time.

You honestly do get a stronger stomach as time goes on. Believe me, I never thought I would, but I did!

Not that I enjoy the nasty smells, but I can now get through it without grimacing and gagging at least

Whispera, MSN, RN · Dec 7, 2011

Halls Mentholyptus cough drops and those little Listerine breath things (they're think sheets of gelatin with listerine in them) help me. Use more than one of the listerine things at a time....

pixie99 · Dec 7, 2011

I've been a nurse for 12 years and I have never gotton over 1. Adult stools and 2. phlegm. When I hve to empty a commode I just lean over the toilet (door closed) and loose my lunch/breakfast/coffee while I flush the contents of the commode away.

Merlyn · Dec 7, 2011

Anything that smells sweet just to get you over the smell. Over time you will get use to it. You get to a point where it will help you. Such as bed sores. A lot of us that have been in nursing for a while can tell by just the smell if the bed sore is clean or infected or not . If the BM is normal or has blood in it. But in the beginning try different things like Vick's or candy.

Derek1975 · Dec 7, 2011

I try to change my thinking while I'm trying to do the task. Think about baseball, or play a song in your head, something to distract your mind while you're doing it. That's what works for me. That and doing it as quickly as possible without doing it wrong.

msjellybean · Dec 7, 2011

Time.

And for the really bad ones, I rub a little bit of nursing cream into my nostrils. It has a menthol-ish smell to it that overpowers just about anything I can come into contact with.