wearing perfume to work

Nurses General Nursing

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thought this would be interesting. what's your policy? i wear a light body splash if any.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I love the insinuation of hypochondria (or wild imagination) when someone says they wheeze (or their asthma flares up) from strong perfume. It HAPPENS.

Later.

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I love the insinuation of hypochondria (or wild imagination) when someone says they wheeze (or their asthma flares up) from strong perfume. It HAPPENS.

so my mother was just visiting for a week and for a week my rescue inhaler and I were quite intimate. I never use it, except when she visits. Of course, she says, 'Darling, it's Chanel. You couldn't possibly be allergic." The wheezing, sneezing and excruitiating migraines are all in my head!!!! I've begged, I've pleaded, and it's all in my head.

The selfishness of some people, especially over something so truly inconsequential is astounding!

Amanda

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The patient went into an asthma attack ;)

She was medicated with Ativan...not an asthma drug, but a mild tranquilizer, giving the impression that her response was "all in her head."

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Specializes in ER, NICU.
It happened to me again yesterday. A patient claimed she went into an asthma attack from the "loud perfume" of my tech and refused to let her in the room. Nothing a bit of ativan didn't fix.

Just because someone THINKS it is the perfume, does not mean it actually is.

There are MANY people (USUALLY WOMEN) who do the "perfume makes me wheeze, etc...) I am NOT saying all, but this happens when it IS a psychological THING.

I think it is a good idea to use the ativan...to make them RELAX.

There are many women out there (and yes, I am saying women) who are hypersensitive to EVERYTHING or CERTAIN things...and it is a psychologically INDUCED "idea".

I'd LOVE to do a study on this to find out "actual sensitivity" vs "psychosensitivity".

I am not trying to be harsh here - but over the years I have heard so MUCH of this sensitivity thing and to be honest I see it develop and fluxuate. It is almost as if the "sensitive" to perfume person is being over dramatic or something.

Not to say there are not REAL cases of true sensitivity - but I've seen more NOT than ARE.

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It happened to me again yesterday. A patient claimed she went into an asthma attack from the "loud perfume" of my tech and refused to let her in the room. Nothing a bit of ativan didn't fix.

:nono: Why on earth would you medicate someone with Ativan who complained of not being able to breathe because your staff wore a "loud perfume"? You should have talked with the patient to "calm" her down and asked the tech not to wear it again, esp if it is hospital policy, or at least just a DAB!!! As a psych nurse I find medicating unnecessarily is just plain wrong. Even on my unit we always try to handle the problem verbally first and meds are always a last resort.

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my 2 cents:

i suffer from migraines and certain scents can be the trigger.

i may even like the scent, but there's something in it that causes the reaction; my stomach rolls, my head explodes.

we have a 'no scent' policy at my hospital, but it's nearly impossible to exclude all scents from your household: deodorant, hair spray, soap, shampoo/conditioner, laundry detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets etc.

if i tell someone that they're causing me a reaction, i have a right to refuse them to enter my room & treat me.

i would find it insulting if i refused someone entering my room based on their 'loud perfume' and my perceived reaction to it (asthma attack) and i was offerend an ativan.

i might even refuse that nurse if my perception was that she was unconcerned with my issue

i find it supremely interesting that some people here are attributing 'sensitivity' to 'being all in your head'

and it is perceived that women have a higher incidence of these 'sensitivities'

and women are the ones who most often have to fight against the labels of 'hypochondria' or 'dramatic'.

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Specializes in Case Management.
Just because someone THINKS it is the perfume, does not mean it actually is.

There are MANY people (USUALLY WOMEN) who do the "perfume makes me wheeze, etc...) I am NOT saying all, but this happens when it IS a psychological THING.

I think it is a good idea to use the ativan...to make them RELAX.

There are many women out there (and yes, I am saying women) who are hypersensitive to EVERYTHING or CERTAIN things...and it is a psychologically INDUCED "idea".

I'd LOVE to do a study on this to find out "actual sensitivity" vs "psychosensitivity".

I am not trying to be harsh here - but over the years I have heard so MUCH of this sensitivity thing and to be honest I see it develop and fluxuate. It is almost as if the "sensitive" to perfume person is being over dramatic or something.

Not to say there are not REAL cases of true sensitivity - but I've seen more NOT than ARE.

Jerico, you brought up such a valid point. At one hospital where I worked, there was a woman with a "sensetivity" to perfume. she was very selective with which perfumes she had a problem with depending on the person wearing the perfume. She ran around hounding me and another woman whom I believe she saw as more her "equal" in the looks department. I had my suspicions about this for months and when she attacked the other woman it kind of sealed the deal for me.

This "allergic" woman was so territorial about the bathroom, the elevators, the stairwell near her office, she would literally follow us around to make sure we did not use her facilities due to our perfume. If I happened to walk down the hallway by her office, she would yell loudly, "she stinks!"

I do not wear a heavy perfume. I wear one that I receive a number of complements on. It fits well with my body chemistry. This woman singled me and another woman out because I believe it was a primal, alpha female type thing she had against us, because we had more prestigious jobs, and it made her feel inferior. I am not kidding. And I spoke to a psychologist about this once and was told that there are women out there who feel that the scent of another woman in their particular "territory" makes them crazy.

The way I handled it, was to picture miss 'allergic" marking her territory as a dog would, and take other hallways and elevators in order to avoid her craziness.

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I am not trying to be harsh here - but over the years I have heard so MUCH of this sensitivity thing and to be honest I see it develop and fluxuate. It is almost as if the "sensitive" to perfume person is being over dramatic or something.

Not to say there are not REAL cases of true sensitivity - but I've seen more NOT than ARE.

OK, so I'm one of those "sensitive" people. Call me dramatic if you wish, I really couldn't care less. BUT, as a nurse, I have to ask you, so what if it is psychological? How is that any different than a "real" sensitivity?? I mean, really. If you are causing someone discomfort, be it "real" or "psychological" what is the difference? You're still causing discomfort and for what reason?

OR, what if I'm saying that I'm sensitive to it because I think it smells terrible and I don't really want to tell you that?

C'mon...that's not really the attitude of a healer and it's not even a little bit caring.

Amanda

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
She was medicated with Ativan...not an asthma drug, but a mild tranquilizer, giving the impression that her response was "all in her head."

:rotfl: I know that, I was being sarcastic :)

I'm a pharmacy tech by the way ;-)

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gr8rnpjt ~ not being confrontational here, but I have to ask you this: Even though you were a perfume that you think works well with your body chemistry and that you have received a number of compliments on, why wouldn't you refrain from wearing it at work if someone was telling you that it bothered them? Wouldn't that have been an easier solution then avoiding stairwells and bathrooms near her?

If she continued to hound you, you would know that it had nothing to do with your fragrance and had everything to do with the 'alpha female thing'....

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
gr8rnpjt ~ not being confrontational here, but I have to ask you this: Even though you were a perfume that you think works well with your body chemistry and that you have received a number of compliments on, why wouldn't you refrain from wearing it at work if someone was telling you that it bothered them? Wouldn't that have been an easier solution then avoiding stairwells and bathrooms near her?

That would be too simple.

Those that insist on wearing cologne or piercings or fake nails or excess jewelry...might consider examining their own motives in doing so before discussing the motives of others in complaining about it.

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Specializes in Case Management.
gr8rnpjt ~ not being confrontational here, but I have to ask you this: Even though you were a perfume that you think works well with your body chemistry and that you have received a number of compliments on, why wouldn't you refrain from wearing it at work if someone was telling you that it bothered them? Wouldn't that have been an easier solution then avoiding stairwells and bathrooms near her?

If she continued to hound you, you would know that it had nothing to do with your fragrance and had everything to do with the 'alpha female thing'....

Simple. I will not change my life for some dimwit who does not have the sense to go after everyone up there that wore perfume. The director of the department, her manager, the secretaries, all wore perfume as well. there were 20 case managers in my department, and at least half wear perfume. This woman chose to ignore all the other scents that wafted by and attacked me and one other woman. We both do the same job (nursing/UR, Miss "sensetive" is a single, lonely dictation secretary. She also did not like that I am married, and had received unwanted and unsolicited attention at that hospital (not my choice) and she liked one of the guys that liked me, and he did not care for her.

It was very obvious. She only picked on myself and my friend who was single and had more attention than she could handle. Not to sound vain, but it so wasn't about our perfume.

I am a very considerate nurse, and if anyone would come up to me and tell me that my perfume is bothering them, I will definitely do something about it. Is it was, my patients, other nurses, random people in the hospital always were telling me how good I smelled. I like to dress well, and have a light pretty scent to complete my presentation.

I never put it on at work, I put it on at home, one spray of a good perfume is all you need all day. some women make the mistake of thinking their perfume has "faded" when in reality they are used to it and while they still smell good, they put more on thinking it is not there anymore. Then they are too "heavy" and it causes problems.

No offense taken. I clearly know what this woman was all about. I hear she is still making the other woman miserable at work ( I have moved on)

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