Teachers and odors

[griffabilly]

I am having so many requests from teachers to call parents about children with different odors. I am in a k-5 school, and calling or talking to the 5th grade students is usually easy. I have trouble calling for kindergarten or first grade students that the teachers think they need deodorant or if they think they are not bathed enough. We are a lower income area, and I am not sure that this is medically related. I was just wondering if other school nurses have had to make these calls and how you handle them. I could use some words of wisdom!

[LovebugLPN]

I work with students in this age group. I would also like to hear other opinions on this. I did have a foreign student referred to me for this issue. I was in no way willing to have him apply deodorant due to the fact that I know how deodorants can cause allergic reactions. I will admit he did have an "odor" but I just gave him a wet paper towel and had him wipe his armpits with it. I can not think of a good outcome to telling a parent that their child smells.

[schooldistrictnurse]

Sometimes you are smelling residual cooking odors/food spices odors. My DIL is Korean and lived with us for a while and when she cooked Korean food, our whole house really really smelled. Now I notice it on my son's jacket when they come over.

[RNCourt]

I have had to deal with this issue a couple of times this year. Both were a female and male student from the same family. The female is 6th grade and the male is 10th. On the first complaint the teacher sends them to my office. I usually ask them what they know about hygiene, what they do at home, if they have supplies available to them. Then i follow up with Mom or Dad to make sure there are no medical reasons for the odor (found out one stinky student dribbles urine...you never know until you ask sometimes). If a casual discussion about hygiene doesn't seem to do the trick I refer to the Dean of Students. The last time, our DOS called home and requested their child be picked up because due to our policy which states the child must be well groomed they could not return to school until they had bathed. It may sound harsh but sometimes students AND parents don't take it seriously until they see how serious we are about it.

[stephaniehowe]

I have been asked to talk with students and we just have a general how are you, and many other questions that go around where I'm not asking straight out why do you stink?! I say it's important that you take time and take care of yourself. I am not going to be calling a parent unless the smell may indicate a medical issue. I work with PreK-6th and mu district is low income, mostly 1 parent that has to work 2 jobs and kids are taking care of kids. The 2nd time I was asked to talk with the same kid he felt very shameful about it and I felt horrible for it so I told the teacher to buy a Scentsy warmer and keep the outside door open!

[amnesiac1c]

I do not police body odor. For either staff or students.

[mandm97, RN]

This very subject came up yesterday for me as well. What has worked well for me....is I will call the parents 1st before I speak with the student. Some teacher don't like this tact as they want the problem fixed asap. I let the parent know that their child's teachers are reporting poor hygiene/body odors. I will let the parent know if I been seeing the same thing or not. I asked the parent if they would like for me to talk to their child about hygiene or do they want to talk with them first. The parents seemed to be appreciative of the phone call first. While talking with the parents...I try to get a sense of financial problems at home. I do make it very clear that it is staff that has concerns and not necessarily me (unless I have noticed it as well). Most parents would like to speak with their child before I do. Some will ask for me to have the conversation here school as they already had that conversation. If that does not improve the situation I may bring in a school counselor and we will have a chat with the student together. I now work in the Middle school setting but did the same thing when I worked in the lower grades.

Michele

[Graciehope]

I had a student whose cats were spraying her clothes and backpack. The smell of cat urine was awful. Spoke with my supervisor and she said there was nothing we could do about it. I spoke with the mother, turns out mom could not afford to get the cat fixed. I spoke with her about keeping backpack in shut closet and keeping cat out of bedrooms but mom always had an excuse. We referred her to the City Nurse who in turn helped her find a Vet that would "fix" the cats for small fee but because she couldn't even afford the small fee (and she would not give up the cats), this lasted for months. The poor little girl. Eventually the cats were fixed and the smell was gone.

[coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN]

Just hope that your teachers don't take it in to their own hands and send this letter:

Teacher sends home note about dirty, stinky children - School Zone - The Buffalo News

[ERRNDeans]

I don't think calling the parent is a good idea. How many times have we taken care of patients in the hospital with "odors?" Although this is only my first year, I think about when this child may come to the health office for an emergency and I have to call the parents. We shouldn't be the bad guy. Maybe the teacher can do a lesson on hygiene. This is a very tough subject especially in an elementary school. I guess it depends on the situation. Cat pee? Yikes.

[Graciehope]

Great, I was jinxed today after reading this post. Teacher sent a 4th gr. male down then called me and said that he smells like poo. She also said that it was not the first time she noticed he smelled like poo and says she has confronted him about needing to use the bathroom and he denies it. Said she has spoken to dad about it however dad does not think it is a big deal. I told her I would talk with him and give him the opportunity to clean up but I can not "wipe him". I spoke to student, he denied needing to clean up and asked why I was telling him to do so. I was honest and told him his teacher was concerned and thought he needed to clean up since she smelled poo near him. He said he was fine and back to class he went. I called the teacher and told her to reach out to his father again and explain to him what her concerns are, ie fear of student being teased, etc. Teacher was not happy. I don't know what she expected me to do. I didn't smell poo or any order for that matter but then again I was trying to have lunch so I only smelled my delicious burger.

[T.H.R.N.]

Once, a long time ago. In a school nurse's office far, far, away. I had a 6th grader sent to me for the persistent poo odor too. Fellow students were making fun of him.:(Long story short, a doctor found he had a 10 centimeter impaction and liquid was leaking around the impaction.

That poor kiddo.