Question about perfume/cologne

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I love to wear perfume, but I know some people are very sensitive to certain scents. I noticed that when I've been in doctor's offices or at the hospital, I rarely smelled perfumes/colognes. So is wearing perfume out of the question for me when I start my clinicals?

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

it is in my school. it is against our dress code to wear perfume/cologne, or have a strong scent of any kind on you.

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it is in my school. it is against our dress code to wear perfume/cologne, or have a strong scent of any kind on you.

I figured. It only makes sense really. Thanks.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Save it for your hot dates. Some people find it almost an olfatory assault, may be allergic, and it can trigger asthma. You don't want to throw fuel on the fire of a sick dyspnea patient. You will be working in close quarters with patients and colleagues. You need to look, act and smell professional. Good luck!

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

we were also not allowed to wear perfume/cologne during clinicals... it is the same way at the hospital where i work. unfortunately, not everyone follows it and even more unfortunate, not everyone followed the cleanly bathed/showered/good hygiene, etc requirement... those smells were another story :uhoh3:

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Specializes in Psych.

Wonderful smelling people have no idea how miserable they make some of us feel. Scented products truly have no place in hospitals and I'm glad you understand the why behind the rule.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Asthmatic

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Specializes in LTC.

Most healthcare facilities are now fragrance free.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

If the fragrance on a coworker or classmate is cloying, you might want to kindly mention something to them.

The reason I say that is because I had no clue that you could smell my body lotion on me until a patient's family member actually complimented me on the scent! As I walked by her, she said, "I like your perfume. What is it?" I told her (honestly) that I don't wear perfume, and I had no clue that you could smell my body lotion.

So, I went to one of my classmates and said, "Can you smell a fragrance on me?" She said, "Yes, but it's nice. It's 'your scent'. You've worn it since school started."

Regardless, I switched to a fragrance-free body lotion in clinicals. It's a phenomenon that some people can't smell themselves, good or bad. Sort of like how you can't tickle yourself.

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I always always have parfume on. My school doesn't care, it's better to have students smelling good because no one needs to smell anyones sweat or body odor. However, we are not allowed to chew gum and that's hard too.

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I always always have parfume on. Thank God our school is okay with it. Nobody needs to smell other peoples body odor etc. However, we are not allowed to chew gum and that's hard too. When I have clinicals I use parfumes made for summer they are light ...I use strong scents only when I go out.

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I always always have parfume on. My school doesn't care, it's better to have students smelling good because no one needs to smell anyones sweat or body odor. However, we are not allowed to chew gum and that's hard too.

"Parfume"? I hope that was a typo. It's not even phonetically correct.

I have to wonder, what about allergies and asthma? Does your school not care about triggering those either? And if you're counting on perfumes and colognes to cover body odor, I can guarantee you're wearing too much. Bathing, deodorant and wearing clean clothes keep you from smelling bad.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Education.

Firstly, I would like to THANK YOU for having the heart to consider how other people around you may react to your perfume. There are enough scents in a hospital to drive my olfactory nerve into overdrive. I can only magine how an asthmatic or severe allergic patient, student or employee feels about this. In fact, I have an example: One my colleagues is a severe asthmatic. Sometimes when support staff walks through the unit wearing perfume, it causes her to have such a severe attack and reaction that she needs to inject herself with an epi pen. The same thing goes if she is even in the vicinity of airborne powder.

I know that for me, when I'm not feeling well, I do not want to smell anything - whether it's sweet perfume or not.

Good luck with clinicals!

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