Quilternurse

fragrance free zone: i hate to be the one to have to tell you this but.... your "personal fragrance" is no longer personal. your "not so personal fragrance" literally took my breath away. i had to get out of my wheelchair to get out of your stink! not funny when my throat was closing up ! aren't you a medical "professional ?" don't you know that wearing fragrances to work is not professional at all? it is about as professional as stinking from cigarette smoke. not everyone thinks you smell as good as you think you do!!! not everyone wants to smell your perfume, cologne, aftershave, hair products or fragranced lotion. not everyone, especially those who are already suffering with cancer, migraines, copd, asthma, allergies, fibromyalgia, mcs, or other illnesses. we are already struggling just to breathe, we don't want to smell your "not so personal fragrance." you don't smell good... you literally stink and you make me and a lot of other people sick! making the connection ---- did you know that there are many people right here in your workplace that have severe adverse fragrance / chemical reactions ? some have it so severe that they can not leave their home or be part of society in a "normal" way. some children have to be home-schooled. just a whiff of fragrance, bounce, plug-ins, or diesel fumes could cause a life threatening anaphylactic reaction! this is called mcs or ei. multiple chemical sensitivity or environmental illness. this is not a simple allergy. there is a lot of information about mcs/ei on the web. there are many other health problems associated with mcs /ei. more common ones are links between people with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, gastrointestinal problems, porphyria and more. do you have any of these illnesses? if so, do you continue to put chemicals and fragrances on your body and clothing. learn what is in bounce and i guarrantee you will never use it again. [color=#003399]http://www.bodyburden.org/ many patients as well as staff are having difficulty even being in the hospital because they are so full of the "fragrance soup." many workers can no longer hold down their jobs because they have become so ill from insensitive so called medical "professionals" who insist on marinating in their "not so personal fragrance." if you or someone you know is more than "inconvenienced" by fragrances and/or everyday cleaning products and chemicals you may want to do some homework on mcs. you can start by looking at the link below where you will find lots of information, printable handouts, posters, educational material incase you need to enlighten a friend, co-worker, loved one or even a doctor who might be telling you "it is all in your head" ! [color=#4e4e4e]http://www.mcs-america.org

I guess my old fashioned thought behind Nurses wearing a white uniform is more of a respect and professional attitude. I mean... what next... Police and Firemen not wearing uniforms ? Think about it... The White uniform is / was a well earned respectable symbol of a Nurse... much like other professional uniforms. The white uniform had a "healing effect" of its own ... when a patient would see a Nurse in his / her uniform the patient would feel safe and re-assured that he/she was getting professional nursing care. Fact is... Now-a-days the patient really doesn't know who the nurse is unless the patient can see the ID badge. So... I am curious... how many nurses in this thread actually wore a white uniform during some part of their nursing career? How many Nurses here graduated and then went to work in a colorful uniform ? Did any new Nurses EVER get to wear a white uniform ?

It is more of a Professional thing than power to me. If I were to return to work in a Hospital or Clinic setting... I would be the one with the White Uniform and Cap on ! Medically Retired ole Nurse

I was a Pediatric Special Care nurse before I became severely disabled with MCS. It happened at the ripe old age of 36 ! I am glad that I had the years that I did in nursing. We will soon be in the process of building a Formaldehyde Free - Non toxic home. It is soooo true... we spend the first half of our life spending our health to make money and the second half of our life spending our money to buy back our health!!! I believe that everyone is at risk for this and is just one spray away from MCS.

from both sides of the fence (nurse and patient) i am compelled to chime in here seeming that fragrances (chemicals) are the main source of my disability. it started out with migraines and now i am completely disabled from chemicals and isolated / homebound for 15 years because of this. mind you, i am not talking inconvenienced by "smells" as it is not an allergy but has grown into a severe neurological problem as well as affecting all of my organs. it appears that most people are missing the obvious... and that is, that fragrances "natural" or otherwise are made of chemicals. so, is not the smell that makes so many of us sick it is the chemicals that the soaps, lotions, perfumes, body sprays, etc. are made of. most of these being petro chemicals. petro... yes, derived from the same as in gasoline for your car. this negative reaction happens when when it crosses the blood / brain barrier. also keeping in mind... if chemicals (as in meds) can make you well they can also make you very sick. think of the fragrances, soaps and lotions that you slather your body with as one big transdermal patch coating all your skin and how it gets into your blood stream. now, when it comes to getting migraines, asthma attacks and various other reactions from these fragrances, imagine what it would be like to become so incredibly disabled from fragrances and chemicals that you could not leave your house? you could not work, you could not shop, you could not visit or have visitors, you could not go to wedding or funerals (kids, parents, don't matter) and you could not participate in life. well, that is where i come in. my latest episode last month is trying to be admitted to the hospital for pancreatitis. i said "trying" because it was something that never happened. not only was there nowhere in the hospital to evaluate me as everywhere and everyone (defensively so) stunk of the usual "personal fragrances" natural, slight, just a spray, a hint of or otherwise but all the rooms have many fragranced sanitizing products in them. not to mention the disenfectants. i waited in an entry hallway for hours bot in pain as well as dehydrated while staff tried to find a room that didn't reek of toxic products, disenfectants or other and was told that there was no way to admit me because there was no room in the hospital to admit me to that didn't have toxic air from these industrial products. also interesting, was that when my doc (who has a fragrance free office) called the hospital from her office to admit me there was not a single nurse that could step forward to help me by being truely "fragrance free." everyone had "just a little" of something on. so, who polices that fragrance free policy ? so, 10 hours later i ended up with an iv and given 5 bags of fluids to self administer at home ! thank goodness i was a nurse, what would have happened if i wasn't is frightening for me to think about. imagine being that sick and not being able to be accommodated / admitted. well... bring me a nurse with her clothes dried with bounce and i will show you a code blue ! i will show you anaphylaxis like you have never seen before. and yet, she will not only be trying to save my life but will be the cause of the anaphylaxis and not even know it. after all, she only has shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, deoderant, lotion, nail polish, moisturizer, laundry detergent, bounce, body spray, deoderant soap, and fabreeze ... but she is not wearing any "perfume" !!! these are all triggers to a person living with mcs. multiple chemical sensitivity. and to think .... there are thousands and thousands of people suffering behind closed doors from mcs and many of them are healthcare workers and teachers. many not even making the connection between the chemicals and fragrances and their own health problems. for me, i think of it as a huge waste of a pediatric special care nurse !