Let's Use Good Sense and Use No Scents

When I was in nursing school, students were often reminded (adamantly!) not to wear perfume in the hospital. At that time the concern was for the patient. Anyone whose condition warranted hospitalization was likely to have a delicate constitution that could be further complicated by odors and fragrances. In other words, we were to leave the Shalimar and English Leather (yes, even in the 60s there were guys in my class) in their bottles or risk nauseating our patients (and some kind of punishment that I don’t recall).

These days it seems that an increasing number of people have allergic or other bad reactions to scents. Headaches, including migraines, are frequently reported in the bad reaction category. Some people, like my sister, just don’t like scents and find them annoying.

Now, there is concern for nurses and other hospital workers who need to be protected from others (sometimes patients) who are fond of the eau de cologne.

I recently heard about a nurse, who is highly sensitive to strong odors in general, who politely asked another nurse to refrain from wearing perfume at work and explained the uncomfortable effects brought on by the scent. The offending nurse flatly refused to forgo her atomizer. The scent-sensitive nurse appealed to supervisors on ever-increasing levels of authority. Some spoke to the offending nurse about the issue but she continued to wear perfume. The last I heard, nothing had been resolved.

Many hospitals have no-scent policies. Just as hospitals are smoke free, some are now scent free. I think that is a good way to go and it is simple to do—or not do, in the case of spritzing clouds of perfumed mist on oneself.

I happen to be quite fond of a couple of perfumes but I would never wear them in the hospital—or near my sister.

Does anyone have asphyxiation-by-perfume stories?