Sometimes, it just Stinks

[Joe V]

All Nurses have dealt with strong and/or offensive odors at some point in their careers. There are many things you can do to help prepare yourself in this situation. Here are just a few:

#1 Mask odors by placing a little menthol-containing products (like Vicks) on the upper lip; use scented lip products with peppermint, lavender, etc.

#2 Try breathing through the mouth (although, if you have a strong gag-reflex, this might not be such a good idea).

#3 Identify certain illnesses that have characteristic odors ahead of time and get yourself mentally prepared.

#4 Some Nurses have even tried hypnotic therapy.

What has worked for you??

Thank you NurseCard for the winning caption. You won $100!

[Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN]

Menthol was worse it made my nasal passages open up and smell was worse. Best was keeping an empty stomach.But everyone has one thing that bothers them ,we are only human.

[tbbtpeach]

Just came off a three day stretch where I had a patient who just downright stunk! When the night shift nurse and I did a safety check my first day, I was greeted with a wall of odor as soon as I opened the door. I thought that he must've just had a bowel movement, but as I did my assessment and took an axillary temp, subsequently almost gagging, I realized that this smell was just this guy's BO! I gave updates to my tech who told me this pt kept refusing any hygiene and kept saying he would shower "later". Well, I made it my goal to get this stinker bathed, but he was not especially excited about it. Finally he agreed to shower, after several (hopefully) veiled attempts on my part to mention it to him, but only after he took this walk. I agreed and PT took him for a walk & I excitedly stripped his bed and sprayed down his whole room with air freshener. He came back from his walk and the tech was helping him into the shower. I went to continue my assessments when I saw the nurse lead making a lap around the unit, holding her nose, and spritzing air freshener around the unit with a look of disgust on her face. It made for a good laugh.

[DaveICURN]

Worked with an nurse who had been around a while, and she suggested that a "bowel full of fresh coffee grounds" were the ticket for my GI bleed Pt. I was curious and though, "Hey why not?". I will report that it did have a neutralizing effect on the GI smell. Oddly enough, I have yet to associate this to the same brewed coffee I drink everyday...

[No Stars In My Eyes]

I spilled kerosene in the trunk of my new car once, and the carpeting reeked. Bought two small bags of cheap, store-brand coffee grounds and shook out the grounds to cover the small trunk's recently doused area. Then I closed the car, did not drive the next day, and the following day when I opened the car door....mmm,mmmm, just that lovely smell of fresh coffee grounds was all I could detect. Never a hint of kerosene ever again!

[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

I had a patient on one of my first clinical rotations poop in a trash can...I believe it was my first exposure to c-diff (didn't know it at the time). The aide was walking down the hall with a can of air freshener!