I need help with smells

Vicks works because it has a strong odor of it's own that masks unpleasant smells. Believe me, it works! It can be irritating to nasal passages, so apply it just below the nostril openings (on the upper lip).

I have horses, and I have used it in the nostrils of a stallion to mask the scent of a mare so I could haul them in a side by side trailer. This stallion would usually holler at the first whiff of a mare, and we hauled them over an hour without a peep from him!

Breathe through your mouth.:)

I tried breathing through my mouth and the smell just went in my mouth and it just made me sick to the stomach. I don't want to be the nurse that thinks she's better than the other nurses b/c I can't handle the smell of certain things. My mom is the same way we just don't take smells well.

I didn't either, not in my early career, and definitely not before then. Before I got into nursing, all I had to do was try to clean up after one of my kids vomited, and I'd be down there on the floor yacking right along with them Now I can handle just about anything, except GI bleeds.......that smell haunts my nightmares!

I have yet to experience the smell of a GI Bleed, but if it's anything like the smell of C. Diff or worse I'm in trouble. I will have to try the Vicks under the nose.

GI bleeds are the worst in my opinion because it is a heavy, dense smell, and you know its blood.

Personally I don't do anything for smells.

Tait

Wear a mask with vicks on the inside. If the patient says anything, just say you "have a cold..."

linda

I just breathe through my mouth. Smells don't really get to me, but one time I had one patient with explosive diarrhea and her grandaughter was in the same small room (home hospice) vomiting with morning sickness, I got so nauseated, so I feel your pain!

We use Dispatch wipes in our facility that have a strong odor of bleach. If I know I'm going into a bad stink situation I wet a mask with a tiny bit of the Dispatch liquid. It works everytime!

Now I can handle just about anything, except GI bleeds.......that smell haunts my nightmares!

Yes..., remember my thread from a while back about what makes you :barf01:? I hadn't found mine yet, but I have come so very close... Had my first GI bleed. That smell is in every bit of air you breathe. Strange, I was fine while I was with the patient for two days of it, but it was on my way home that I noticed how you can't get that smell out of your mind, you think it's everywhere! So... I put on (alot) of my favorite smelling hand lotion several times that evening, and that thankfully relplaced that memory.

I agree, wear a mask! But I must say the worst smell is gangrene!

I didn't either, not in my early career, and definitely not before then. Before I got into nursing, all I had to do was try to clean up after one of my kids vomited, and I'd be down there on the floor yacking right along with them Now I can handle just about anything, except GI bleeds.......that smell haunts my nightmares!

That was me as far as the kids. I have a very sensitive nose, when I was pregnant it was 10 times worse. I have been fortunate that my kids have been generally healthy, vomit gets me more than poop (well normal kid poop). My husband on the other hand has ruined is sense of smell from his work and can't smell a lot of things, so when the kids would vomit if he was home he had to clean up or else I was having to keep running to the bathroom to puke myself no matter how hard I tried to stop it. I wondered how this is going to effect me getting into nursing. The site doesn't bother me at all or cleaning it up, just the smell. I plan on always having the vics with me.