Dealing with smells...

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Specializes in CNA.

I thought I'd put this here, since you guys have so much more experience, even though I'm only training as a CNA right now.

We're doing clinicals in a LTC facility, and today was the first time I got to change a brief (whee! how exciting!) Now, I'm not squeamish.. the idea of poop doesn't bother me, seeing the poop.. whatever. I'm good. But today the smell just hit me.. and I actually had to bolt and leave my partner there because I thought I was going to vomit. I was SO embarrassed because it was like.. a reflex. My supervising RN just looked at me and said (quite snottily) "and you have THREE kids?!" Sorry lady, but this was no baby poopie!

What do you veterans do to deal with the awful smell? Resident was on tons of meds and pureed diet, so it was REALLY terrible. I feel so bad, because it's not like I was consciously saying "ew" or something. Is there a trick to this? :scrying:

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Hi, you will get lots of good suggestions here. What I use is Hall's the old fashion nasty tasting ones and you can't smell a thing. Good luck!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I did the same thing on my first "poopie" change. First let me assure you, you will get so used to the smells that you wont notice them after a while. You may even learn to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy poopie. Now some advice, try applying a little Vicks inside or under your nose, or on the outside of a mask (if your wearing one). Good Luck and relax, time will toughen your sence of smell.

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Specializes in critical care.

:nurse:My very first clinical in LTC 14 years ago, I'll never forget it. They partnered us up, and I was with another gal, well we had this chronic demented, CVA patient. Non-verbal, incontinent, tube feedings etc. Well she pooped and the smell was horrific, I was gagging, with tears running down my face during the entire experience. We also had to do pretty extreme oral care, and good god the stench and slime in her mouth was equally as bad as the poop. I seriously thought, "Lori, you made a big mistake". Now looking back I laugh, cause you really do get used to it, it becomes part of the job and not so bad. Hang in there, you will be desensitzed eventually.:p

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Specializes in LTC/hospital, home health (VNA).

Learn to breathe through your mouth instead of your nose. Of course, not quite as noticeable as Lamaze breathing ...:lol2: but it does help. As well as using lotion or something under your nose and a sucking on a mint or something. Don't worry, you will get used to it.

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Specializes in CNA.
We also had to do pretty extreme oral care, and good god the stench and slime in her mouth was equally as bad as the poop.

See, that's where my partner tweaked, since that was REALLY bad too (we actually think they hadn't been brushing her teeth.. she has a very weird rigidity to her mouth.. it stayed in the same position, half open -- never really closing all the way -- I'm not a nurse, so I have no idea what you'd call that) I think it's entirely possible the staff there just decided it was too much trouble to do or something. This same woman had about a stage 3 bedsore on her bottom too -- which in my book is just inexcusable.. ugh.

Anyway, thank you. I feel better knowing that other people started in the same boat. I think it's hard for our instructors, since they've been nurses for like.. 30, 40 years... and some of the other students have experience.. but the rest of us have gone from doing ONE practice peri-care on a mannequin straight to an explosive very real messy behind. I have no doubt I'll work through it, but it's so discouraging to just have her look at me like "you're such a baby" because it made me sick the first go-around.

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Specializes in critical care.
Learn to breathe through your mouth instead of your nose. Of course, not quite as noticeable as Lamaze breathing ...:lol2: but it does help. As well as using lotion or something under your nose and a sucking on a mint or something. Don't worry, you will get used to it.

Gotta disagree here! Never keep your mouth open during this type of activity! While turning, cleaning etc. sometimes things get flung around (ever wonder how the poopy/mucus/blood etc. got on the wall, or on you? Well it can fly in your open mouth! I have seen this happen, and you think the smell was bad? How about tasting it? EWWWWWWWWWW! I NEVER keep my mouth open during poop cleanup. I would PUKE if that happened!

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Specializes in CNA.
Gotta disagree here! Never keep your mouth open during this type of activity! While turning, cleaning etc. sometimes things get flung around (ever wonder how the poopy/mucus/blood etc. got on the wall, or on you? Well it can fly in your open mouth! I have seen this happen, and you think the smell was bad? How about tasting it? EWWWWWWWWWW! I NEVER keep my mouth open during poop cleanup. I would PUKE if that happened!

I was thinking that too.. but besides.. if I breathe though my mouth, my Altoid or Hall's might fall out... :D

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haha, im glad im not the only one. I was watching a esophageal stent placement on one of my patients. During the procedure, they had to suction his oral secretions/sputum... randomly from the sound of it combined with the visual I got soooo nauseated i had to bolt out of the OR and i threw up. Ive NEVER gotten nauseated before, not from smells, not from poop, not from vomit, not from blood. But of all things, sputum is what really gets me. i was SO embarrassed, oh my goodness.. everyone was asking me if i was pregnant!

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I don't think I'll ever get used to cleaning poop, even after 4 years. It is just nasty. And maybe I'm feeling bitter from all the lactulose poo I've been wiping lately. That is the most horrible, sour smell to me.

Another smell that just turns my stomach, is the stench that comes out of the skin folds of larger patients with poor hygiene. Oh. My. Word. It smells worse than a farm.

And some people's hoohoos are THE WORST. It is like they have never taken a wash cloth and soap down there in the last 20 years!:uhoh21:

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

yep...it's kinda like the barnyard left the cow stalls full.

See, most smells don't bother me....the exception is lactulose and c-diff poop, and yeast infection.....

It's the sound of suctioning and the look of vomit that gets to me.....

advice? Just keep pluggin away.....someday that handy smeller will alert you to when somebody's got something wrong.....

Oh, and for the record...the worst poop smell is when someone gets golytely for a bowel prep......up and down every 15 minutes spending about 30 mins on the toliet at a time!

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Specializes in picc line.
Gotta disagree here! Never keep your mouth open during this type of activity! While turning, cleaning etc. sometimes things get flung around (ever wonder how the poopy/mucus/blood etc. got on the wall, or on you? Well it can fly in your open mouth! I have seen this happen, and you think the smell was bad? How about tasting it? EWWWWWWWWWW! I NEVER keep my mouth open during poop cleanup. I would PUKE if that happened!

i absolute think so lorilou!

u'r surely going to get used to smell n poppy ivmama but close your mouth n take care when u have 2 do with biological fluids

:dncgbby:

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