feces odor in student

[ALoucas]

Hi,

I am a public school teacher,currently taking pre-nursing courses.

I have a new student, an obese male, age 8. He comes to school in clean and pressed clothing, socks and shoes. The problem is ..... from the minute he steps off the school bus there is an odor of feces that gets stronger as the day progresses. If you stand 6 feet away from him, you can smell the odor. The odor also fills the whole room.

He has free access to a restroom inside the classroom, and I do not notice any wet or soiled parts on his clothing.

I need to talk to mom about this, but I want to know if anyone out there knows what could be causing this odor.

He is a special needs student and is on several medications.

Also, are their any products out there I can buy to spray or use in the classroom that work well at killing odors. I tried Oust. It doesn't work.

Please advice.

Athena:uhoh21:

[LoriAlabamaRN]

Sounds like he may have a problem with passing gas!

[TallGirlAni]

On the floor where I work, if I have a patient with some foul smelling wounds, I have put some peppermint oil on a cottonball and placed it in a dish and let it sit in the room. That helps somewhat. I have heard that febreze can also help. Please keep in mind that the chemicals that you might be spraying could cause allergic reactions to your pupils. I work with a nurse who is very allergic to perfumes and powders. Please keep this in mind. As far as the student goes, meeting with his parents is the first step. They may be aware of this odor, and may be able to divulge the cause. Since the smell is disruptive to the class, you are within your bounds as a teacher to address this. This will be good practice for you as you will be handling sensitive issues with your patients and their families as a nurse. Keep us posted.

[babynurselsa, RN]

It also may be a wiping issue. Even at 8 some little kids can't or don't wipe well.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Fecal incontinence can occur even without visible soiling on the outside clothing. Oddly enough chronic constipation can cause fecal incontinence and often is not a large amount of stool so it wouldn't soil clothing but it would give off an odor. And I have seen this with a child with an average IQ who was supposedly "potty trained". This continued until the child was about 13.

[RENAISSANCE RN]

he doesnt have a colostomy bag does he?

[GeminiTwinRN, BSN]

Hollister makes a great product called M9 Odor Eliminator Spray. We use it on the ICU for GI Bleeds, Ostomies, etc. It doesn't have the "cover up" effect of other sprays, it truly does eliminate the odor. It's probably expensive, but might be something his parents could supply for the classroom since the odor is so disruptive.

HTH! :)

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

As a mom of young boys..I was thinking a wiping issue or maybe skid marks?? Could be a constipation issue or gas?

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

Was thinking the same thing Terri. He could have a colostomy issue he is dealing with and out of fear of the other kids knowing they have kept the information from the school.

[nursey70]

As a mother of a ten-year-old, I can almost certainly tell you that this child does not wipe. My son is told repeatedly to wipe,flush and wash his hands after moving his bowels. And he is not mentally impaired in anyway. He is just in a rush to get back to playtime. Maybe a chat with his parents would be less embarrassing for all. Good luck. :wink2:

[enfermeraSG]

I think that TiffanyRN probably hit the nail on the head. My youngest son is special needs so I have been familiar with a lot of the children and the problems that can come along with them. It is called encorpresis and is actually a more common problem with some of these kiddos. As far as the smell issue - that M9 stuff someone mentioned is great. Here's the link to a quick summary:

http://www.aboutourkids.org/aboutour/disorders/encopresis.html

[babynurselsa, RN]

I would give his mom a call. Ask her about it. That way if there is a special issue you can work with her.

Until you find out otherwise I would still lean towrad wiping issues.