Body Odor of Coworker or Pt.

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Have any of you ever had to deal with the body odor of a coworker, classmate, or patient on a regularly ongoing basis? If so, how did you handle the situation?

Specializes in ER/ICU, CCL, EP.

I had a co-worker with bad body odor. She was a very large person, and honestly...she just started to whiff pretty badly after about 6 hours of a shift if she started to sweat at all. One of the managers talked to her about it, and she was upset, but totally understood the problem. She bathed regularly, she just had additional odor issues because of the extra 'her'. :) Maybe she just had a pungent body chemistry. :)

She asked one of the techs to put a frownie face sticky note on her patients chart if it was an issue. :) She had a locker full of stuff to make it better if it occurred, and that was that. We loved her before, and we still did. :)

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I have had patients come in the office with horrendous body odor. But you deal with it and move on.

I have never had to deal with a coworker with a bad odor, other than a manager who insists on bathing on perfume. :icon_roll

Yes, perfume. I learned in my Paramedic training AND my nurse training to NOT wear it (well, not me, but we students were told) and i still see (smell) women do it over the top. How is it that they don't get the message.

BO: my story is that as a student doing CPR training, the instructor told me as we were leaving, "Get the Ban or get banned." That did it--that is all she had to say. Of course, she had the authority to make it stick.:cheers:

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Specializes in nursery, L and D.

This reminded me of a co-worker I once had. She always smelled very strongly of garlic. She was also kind of an odd-ball person. So, everyone talked about her for months, and eventually I felt I had to say something, as she was also starting to be treated badly by the CNAs and other nurses.

She told me it was a doctor ordered diet, and that she couldn't take garlic caplets b/c they stuck in her throat, so she mixed massive amounts of garlic powder in hot water and drank it.........uggggggggg.

Anyway, she basically said there was nothing to be done about it, and people would have to get over it, and to my knowledge she is still garlic smelling today.

So, I would speak with the co-worker, and hope it does more good than my talk did!

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

A few years ago when i worked as a nurses aid in a nursing home I worked with a girl who stank of BO so bad that you could smell her from about ten metres away. Other coworkers and residents complained to the DON about her odour. The DON spoke with her about it and couldn't do anything about the problem because she had some sort of health condition that no matter what perfume, soap or deoderant she used, she still stank.

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When I was in school we had several foreign students with this problem. Our campus was old with buildings that were poorly ventilated and had no working air conditioning. It used to be a free for all when people did their utmost to sit as far from the offenders as possible. Strangely enough, our curriculum had a required multicultural class where we were taught about other cultures and being sensitive to other people's ways of doing things, yet this subject was never brought up or discussed. That class would have been the perfect venue for such a discussion. No reason why the foreign students couldn't learn something about American culture since they were forced to take the class also.

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Specializes in NICU.

Luckily no one I work with has a huge odor problem. There is one clinical fellow, but it's only noticable when you're reeeeeally up close with him. And the patients, well, they're little, so when they stink they can't really fight us. :D

At the very beginning of nursing school, during orientation, we got the following speech: "We recognize that we have students from many cultures with many different practices. In American business culture it is customary to shower at least every 24 hours and apply deodorant or antiperspirant each morning. Thank you." The end. I never noticed a problem.

Now, when I was an undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, it was a different story. Aaaaaah, the sweet funk of unwashed dreadlocks, bare feet and patchouli oil... (I grew up with hippies, don't flame me!)

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

Well, someone did something...because our foreign students no longer have B.O.

:clpty:

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Coworker/classmate stink can be a touchy issue. I found that straight and to the point, prefaced by something positive about your relationship with them works well.

I once had a lab partner that stank big time. I agonized over how to tell him--didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I was getting nauseous and close to losing breakfast. Finally, I bit the bullet, pulled him aside one day and said, "Dude, I love workin' with ya, but you're kinda stinky." He took it really well and problem solved. I think we've all been in that situation where are nostrils are just saturated with a stink and we don't notice it anymore. That's where he was, and he was really glad that I said something.

:up:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I think we've all been in that situation where are nostrils are just saturated with a stink and we don't notice it anymore.
True. For example, if a person has been using the same body wash or soap for 10 years, (s)he becomes desensitized to the fragrance. Therefore, they don't notice the scent of the soap as keenly as they would have 10 years ago, even though the other people in their life can detect the fragrance almost immediately.

The same phenomenon occurs with body odor. The odorous person probably has become so desensitized to his/her own odor, that (s)he doesn't even notice it's present anymore. However, the other people in the smelly person's life can detect the stench immediately.

My point is that many odorous people do not even realize that they have body odor; therefore, they don't realize that they are offending anyone.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I hate to admit this, because it is going to sound really bad, and you guys are going to blast us, but here goes.

We have a frequent flyer that comes in at least every 3-4 weeks. He comes in very sick (sickle cell), and is a known drug abuser. But once he gets better, he refuses to take a bath. He will smell horrible, gag ya to walk in the room.

So, when he gets to stinking, and he calls for pain meds, we tell him he has to agree that he will take a bath if we medicate him. :imbar

I know it sounds bad, but that is the only way he will get a bath...

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

I had one patient that didn't like one of the aides... and this aide got assigned to her all of the time. She kept refusing to get washed up for this aide. One trip in, she didn't wash for 4 days. OT got involved and made her get washed up. Next day, I came in to work and our assignments got switched. The aide that the patient didn't like told me that I'd have a battle with her because she wouldn't wash. I went in to this patient's room with a smile, a hello, and being my usual Mary Sunshine self (I am a firm believer that patients are sick enough and shouldn't have to deal with an aide who's grumpy cause she's not a morning person.. and I am sooooo not a morning person). I asked her if she slept well, had any pain issues, etc. Then I asked if I could change her bed while she got washed up. She agreed and I never had any problems with her. When she was discharged, she gave me a big hug and thanked me for all of the good care I gave her. Thing was, I didn't give her any extra special care. I gave her the care I give all of my patients.

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