I need help with smells

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

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!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 27, 2009

I keep a jar of Vicks or Mentholatum in my treatment cart so I can swipe a little under my nose when necessary. Peppermint oil helps as well; in fact, we often keep some in a C. diff patient's room for that reason. It doesn't completely cover the odor, but it does help keep it from permeating the entire hall.

BradleyRN · Mar 27, 2009

Breathe through your mouth.:)

BlessedRoseRN · Mar 27, 2009

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.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 27, 2009

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 :barf02: Now I can handle just about anything, except GI bleeds.......that smell haunts my nightmares!

BlessedRoseRN · Mar 27, 2009

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.

Tait, MSN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

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

AtlantaRN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

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!

nurseeB · Mar 27, 2009

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!

netglow, ASN, RN · Mar 28, 2009

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.

nurse(4)30yrs · Mar 28, 2009

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