body odor

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Any suggestions on how to talk to a middle school boy about using deodorant? Teacher was complaining and asked me to talk to him. Any unique approach/strategy to use that isn't embarrassing for the student?

Thank you for this post. I read it this morning and was just asked 20 minutes ago to tell a student she has BO. It's the first time I've been asked to talk to a student and I was prepared to answer thanks to all of you!

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i have spoken to kids about hygiene - and i do have deodorants here. But, as others have said, there is no law against being stinky. I can gently advise a student that they are of a certain age where they may need to shower more often and use deodorant now (and not wear the same blessed hoodie every freaking day!!) But i will only do it once. If a teacher complains again to me and wants me to speak to them again, i tell them no. (You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it shower!)

On the other hand - Kidzcare did bring up a good point that the teacher handing it off like that DOES indeed make it seem like the teacher is gossiping. So that does make me revise my stance on this.

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Specializes in School Nurse. Having conversations with littles..

I absolutely will NOT be the first one to talk to a student, unless it is first hand information to me. I kindly, and directly, explain to the teacher that is asking me to have that talk... It is much more embarrassing to the student to know that we (the teacher and I) had a conversation about their odor, than for the teacher to go directly to the student and have the talk. This isn't usually very well received by the teacher. But, the more times I explain this, the better I am getting at "selling" this to the teacher. With that being said, I do tell the teacher that if she/he has the initial conversation and after a good effort on her/his effort to help the kid to understand, that I will follow up. I also encourage the teacher to get the counselor involved.

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i have spoken to kids about hygiene - and i do have deodorants here. But, as others have said, there is no law against being stinky. I can gently advise a student that they are of a certain age where they may need to shower more often and use deodorant now (and not wear the same blessed hoodie every freaking day!!) But i will only do it once. If a teacher complains again to me and wants me to speak to them again, i tell them no. (You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it shower!)

On the other hand - Kidzcare did bring up a good point that the teacher handing it off like that DOES indeed make it seem like the teacher is gossiping. So that does make me revise my stance on this.

This is how I feel.

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I actually have flyers that I made (blue for boys, pink for girls) that I print off when a teacher approaches me about this. It says things like "make sure to shower every day (focusing on armpits, feet)....put deodorant on....change clothes/undies daily...." etc. etc. I also put at the bottom that if they need any help with something like that to come to my office as I have a few supplies I can send home. I hang them in the bathrooms (one in each stall, one on mirrors, and one on the door). I haven't had a student come ask for supplies yet, and once I post the flyers, my teachers usually quit complaining after a day or so. Not sure if it fixes the problem, but it reaches a large part of our student population and it seems to fix the problem. Now, as we get bigger, this approach may not work as well, but I'll cross that bridge when we get there.

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One day a nun announced loudly to our entire 11th grade class all mysteriously like, "Someone in this class has BO?! Do you know what BO is? We're all at the age now..." We all instantly started giggling and sniffing our own pits. Just strikes me as kind of funny now. It was embarrassing a little but we were all in it together ...sniff, giggle, sniff.

I like how you do it, KeeperoftheIceRN! :inlove:

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Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Stinky pit smell discussions actually can become quite complex. For instance almost all Koreans never produce stinky sweat, whereas about 97% of people whose ancestry trace back to Europe or Africa do produce stinky sweat. "Most East Asians and 30% to 50% of those in Southern Asia, the Pacific Islands, Central Asia, Asia Minor and indigenous Americans do not have stinky armpits."

Ian Day a genetic epidemiologist states that a certain gene called ABCC11 prevents stinky pits. If you have it, throw the deodorant away.

Another factor is that some people are odor-blind to the smell of stinky sweat. Their smell might knock you over, but if they stick their nose near their armpit and sniff, they perceive no odor.

So it is quite possible that this fellow has clean clothes, showers regularly and stinks (to you and me) but he cannot perceive the smell, and possibly due to genetics, neither can his parents.

So if anyone has a chat with him, it might be wise to explain what for him, is unfathomable.

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Anyone have tips on how I can tell my daughter's friend to PLEASE wear socks so that when she takes off her shoes at my house the whole place does not stink???

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Anyone have tips on how I can tell my daughter's friend to PLEASE wear socks so that when she takes off her shoes at my house the whole place does not stink???

Tell them to put their shoes outside, as the pets are going crazy.

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Specializes in IMC, school nursing.
Anyone have tips on how I can tell my daughter's friend to PLEASE wear socks so that when she takes off her shoes at my house the whole place does not stink???

:roflmao:Kimmy Gibbler feet. My son has them. We wash his shoes, charcoal them at night and it still reeks. Good luck with the friend. Maybe share a Full House episode with her?

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Specializes in Care Coordination, Care Management.

I am not a school nurse, so forgive me for overstepping - and also, forgive me for suggesting you take on more work than you already do - but what about a hygiene presentation, so for all of the students or say all of the 5th graders or whatever may be applicable. So, no one student is singled out.

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Tell them to put their shoes outside, as the pets are going crazy.

It's her actual feet that smell! Actually, it's probably both. They usually close the door to her room and then I'll knock to let them know that dinner is ready or something and get hit with the smell. I don't know how my daughter has not said anything to her!

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