Perfume at work?

Nursynursenurse, ADN, RN · Mar 9, 2015

Smelling someone's perfume even if its too strong is always better than smelling someones body odor. I wear body spray just in case I get really sweaty and start smelling. I have deodorant resistant armpits. Its bad enough that my shirts are always drenched in sweat but it also smells. The spray I use smells good and I've only ever gotten compliments.

allnurses Guide · Mar 12, 2015

All right, fair enough, ladies. The last thing I would ever want is to cause a patient to go into anaphylaxis. I do feel that a little bit of fragrance makes me more polished, more finished, and gives me some confidence. As a mental health nurse, I participate in forensic team meetings with clinicians and psychological examiners, so I always want to appear professional. Also, my facility is run by the state, so I like to feel professional and polished when the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health makes his rounds. I am never heavy-handed with fragrance and I stick to high-end, classy scents (no vampy Victoria's Secret scents.) But perhaps it's time for me to put down the (perfume) bottle. Thank you for your comments.

Personally I think that wearing perfume to work actually shows a lack of professionalism. It is well established that scents can have powerful physical and psychiatric reactions in patients. I worked in an acute psychiatric setting for 15 years and you never know whats going to set a patient off. I to participated in a lot of contact with pt advocates administrative law judges etc... and never remember any of them wearing scents.

JMHO

Hppy

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2015

Be careful, hppygr8ful. I said basically said the same, only to be likened to an old Battleaxe nurse that was being catty......and given a big , Meow".

There are HCWs put their nails, clothing and perfume as more important than the comfort and safety of the patients that are the basis of our jobs on a number of the active threads.

allnurses Guide · Mar 13, 2015

Be careful, hppygr8ful. I said basically said the same, only to be likened to an old Battleaxe nurse that was being catty......and given a big , Meow".
There are HCWs put their nails, clothing and perfume as more important than the comfort and safety of the patients that are the basis of our jobs on a number of the active threads.

At 52 I don't really care what people think of me. As far as grooming goes I'm clean and don't smell. Like a stealth bomber I show up for work on time do my job and fly out. I was a top notch psych nurse who often had assignments of 28 acutely psychotic patients at one time with 1 psych tech and 2 aides. I picked my team and while I was there we had the best unit with the least amount of Emergency IM medications given, because I wasn't afraid to step out of the nursing station and see what was up with my patient's. I've had feces, semen , urine and fists flying at me so putting on my "classy" outfits often went out the window. Have you ever tried to do a take down in a skirt!.

I'm there to do a job - not attract a date.

Hppy

whofan, ADN, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2015

no. nothing worse than sneezing alll night cause someone bathed in a perfume/cologne. Besides flowery poop stench is worse than just poop.

OCNRN63, RN · Mar 13, 2015

At 52 I don't really care what people think of me. As far as grooming goes I'm clean and don't smell. Like a stealth bomber I show up for work on time do my job and fly out. I was a top notch psych nurse who often had assignments of 28 acutely psychotic patients at one time with 1 psych tech and 2 aides. I picked my team and while I was there we had the best unit with the least amount of Emergency IM medications given, because I wasn't afraid to step out of the nursing station and see what was up with my patient's. I've had feces, semen , urine and fists flying at me so putting on my "classy" outfits often went out the window. Have you ever tried to do a take down in a skirt!.
I'm there to do a job - not attract a date.
Hppy

This made me laugh. My first job out of nursing school was on a general psych unit. I was trying so hard to "dress to impress." One day we had a patient act out, and he needed to go into the seclusion room. I was wearing a dress and pumps. I can't tell you how much fun it was to run in high heels. I wound up kicking off my shoes and running in my stockings. It was a blast getting him in 4 point restraints, too.

I also had patient spit their meds at me or throw liquid meds at me. I finally learned my lesson when out of the blue, a patient tossed his liquid med at me. The smirk on his face was so irritating. He wasn't psychotic; just a jerk.

After that, I dressed down for work. I dressed professionally, but no more expensive duds or shoes.

natural patient · Mar 3, 2016

I am a patient, not a nurse, but I have some very close friends who are nurses, and I also know that nurses are the key to successful hospital care, and they are mostly angels. I understand that fragrance at work for nurses is a difficult subject, because of the smells that can be around sick people. But I am also significantly 'allergic' to chemical fragrance. The single most difficult thing to deal with in a hospital, after the pain of the thing that takes you there in the first place, is the emotional stress of having to deal with people who come into your room with fragrance on. Not wearing perfume is just one small part of the problem. Every purell pump, every hand soap dispenser in the two hospitals I've been in recently has 'fragrance' in it, and i have to wear masks just to have a nurse in the room. I hate this, but I also have gotten anaphylaxis from it, so I have to be cautious.

It is also true that in 1999 the Mass. Nursing Association declared that fragrance chemicals have NO PLACE in any health care facility.

('Fragrance' is a very specifically and legally defined group of chemical additives which are unrelated to natural essential oils; as part of a list of ingredients, 'fragrance' can include any of up to 3000 chemical substances, most petro-chemically derived, and many are endocrine and hormone disruptors.) Our society is now so addicted to fragrance, it is in huge quantities in laundry products and deodorants, and these are the SAME chemicals in perfume that are prohibited because they pose health threats to patients.

In Australia and Europe, it is common to find ONLY natural essential oils--i.e., made just from plants and with no chemical additives--to control odors, and also because--this is AWESOME--they are naturally anti-bacterial!!!!

I feel like I am chipping at an iceberg with a toothpick here, but the suffering of we people with the sensitivity is huge. Because endocrine and hormone disruptors can affect different people very differently, it is true that many, many problems can be traced back to these chemicals, including obesity, depression, skin rashes, asthma, other pulmonary problems, and more complex metabolic imbalances that cause cancers and other serious illness. This is not totally new information, but the power of money in the fragrance industry seriously trumps factual and effective knowledge which could help us all avoid this chemical nightmare.

Thanks for reading.

SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP · Mar 26, 2016

Essential oils are still fragrances and chemicals, there are also unscented fragrances that are used to mask odors in products. I have severe allergy to all fragrances my body does not know the difference.

tinyonern · Mar 26, 2016

I had to leave work several times with migraines and severe wheezing because a co-worker worn perfume. I mentioned it to her, and she blew me off. Finally, had to go to supervisor (couldn't afford to lose any more work).

I love perfume, but must be very careful so I don't cause my own problems. Because I know how horrible it is to have a reaction, I never would wear any type of scent to work.