Stinky Nurse

[agldragonRN]

okay we have this new rn in our facility. and he has a serious bo. you can even smell his stench from a distance. i feel bad about him because everyone knows he smells and talks about him. i think he just need to use a deodorant but it may be against his religion/culture, i'm not sure. he said he is from europe. so everyone is telling the nurse manager to talk to him because as a healthcare provider, he should have a good personal hygiene. so how can you advice him without offending him? is everyone just being mean, including me?

p.s. it is really bad because all his coworkers are complaining and even the patients. when i was talking to him the other day, i had to hold my breath and ran away asap.

angel

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

No one is doing him or your patients any favors by the conspiricy of silence to his face and gossiping behind his back, especially if his "stench" is that bad. Someone needs to tell him. It doesn't necessarily have to be a manager. But holding your breath and running isn't working very well is it?

Good luck. I'd hate to have to deal with that.

[EmmaG, RN]

It may not be simply poor hygiene. There are many causes of body odor, but someone definitely needs to talk to him and recommend a check-up if he is bathing/using deodorant.

[DoubleblessedRN, ADN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-P]

If you know his e-mail address you can go to http://youhavebo.com. They will send an anonymous e-mail. But I have never used it.

On a more serious note, if a patient mentions something to you, maybe you could suggest s/he bring it to the manager's attention? Then the manager could tell him the complaint was received from a patient and not a co-worker. In some workplaces, supervisors and managers seem to take complaints more seriously from a patient/client/customer than from a co-worker.

[TrudyRN]

Roflmbo

[Cherish]

If you know his e-mail address you can go to http://youhavebo.com. They will send an anonymous e-mail. But I have never used it.

On a lighter note, if a patient mentions something to you, maybe you could suggest s/he bring it to the manager's attention? Then the manager could tell him the complaint was received from a patient and not a co-worker. In some workplaces, supervisors and managers seem to take complaints more seriously from a patient/client/customer than from a co-worker.

Thats actually a great suggestion about the patient informing a manager. They will definately take action if a patient complains.

[leslie :-D]

i think it should be the responsibility of the cn/nm to inform this nurse of his offensive odors.

but whoever tells him, he needs to know!

he's affecting his pts.

i certainly wouldn't want to blow lunch r/t my smelly nurse.

leslie

[Sabby_NC]

Why do we fear speaking to the person directly?

If it were me ( I have dealt with this before ) I would speak with him in private concerning this matter.

It may be more than a problem of B O too.

Hope it gets sorted out really soon.

[steelcityrn, RN]

This should be handled by the manager. Telling a co-worker that their odor is offensive, stinky ect. might not be one of those conversations you should have with them. Instead of taking advice, he could file a complaint againt that co-worker.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

This should be handled by the manager. Telling a co-worker that their odor is offensive, stinky ect. might not be one of those conversations you should have with them. Instead of taking advice, he could file a complaint againt that co-worker.

Sounds crazy, but it does happen.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Welcome to YouHaveBO.com, the Internet's premier BO Notification service.

LOL!!! I'm sorry, either i'm tired or the tone of what i quoted is funny lol.

[Jo Dirt]

I was watching 60 Minutes and there is a disorder called Malodor Syndrome but I think it is more of a fishy smell these people put out no matter how clean they are.

When my brother-in-law was in Iraq he said when you would talk to the native people the smell was soooo bad you almost could not stand it, because they very rarely bathe and they stay in the same stinky robes to protect them from the sun. He said you want to point and ask them to stand "over there" when you're talking to them and the smell stays in your nose even after they have left.

So at least it isn't as bad as that.

If it's just the European BO that comes from them not being as obsessed about odors as Americans are, I guess someone could explain the culture difference and how he needs to do like the Roman's are doing over here. Maybe it could be said in an anonymous letter. Be sure to compliment him in the letter too so it doesn't just seem like he's being singled out and the object of finger-pointing.