Question about Body Odor

[Avill, BSN, RN]

Second teacher this week asking me if I could talk to a student about their BO.

I haaaate doing it. I don't understand why they can't just talk to their student in a polite/gentle way if they are in their class.

But anyway, just wondering how you guys have brought it up to your students? I am in the high school setting.

[OldDude]

That falls into the counselor's responsibility since it's a social issue. Few school districts have written policies prohibiting BO.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

That falls into the counselor's responsibility since it's a social issue. Few school districts have written policies prohibiting BO.

I've yet to run into a school that does. I've had this talk, BUT only if I have a good relationship with the student and have been asked because of that relationship. Usually at my school we'll check in and see who has the best relationship with a student.

And sometimes the issue has nothing to do with something the student can control, the most often culprit I've seen is a student not having access to a washer and dyer. We wear uniforms at my school and unwashed sweater can just STINK if it isn't washed no matter any deodorant or how many showers a student takes. So we have worked on helping a student out with that issue.

[ABRN2012]

I get asked all the time and it is awkward no matter what age. In a high school setting I do find it easier as they can most of the time take care of the problem (wash their clothes, take a shower, deodorant, ect.) But most of the time I get asked to talk to elementary and in this case most of the time it is out of the childs control. They cant wash their own clothes in 1st grade. It really bugs me that the teachers just throw it off and me but whats new really.

[pedi_nurse]

I work in a middle school and have had this talk a few times with students. IMO, it is one of those things that crosses into both the nurse's and counselor's territory depending on the cause. It's awkward, but I don't mind talking to the kid if the teacher sends them down to me. Usually they know why they were sent, which gives me a good starting point.

For middle school, most of the time it's bexause kids just don't realize they need to shower more at this age than they had to in elementary school and nobody has taught them that. We talk about how everybody starts to get more of a body odor at this age and the need to shower more frequently/wear deodorant. I check in with them about having access to washer/dryer, let them know I'm here to help problem solve if that ever is an issue, provide deodorant to kids who forget, and have wipes available for students to freshen up if needed. (Always gives away free product samples that sometimes includes deodorant - otherwise I purchase spray deodorant for the clinic.)

Usually this fixes the problem. Rarely, it doesn't, in which case I make sure the counselor/principal are involved.