Should health care workers wear perfume?

First week of a Bachelor of Nursing course here, students are told not to wear perfume in patient care roles

I'm an HCP. The dress code of my Trust mentions not wearing perfume, which I of course comply with, and I agree with it 100%. I hate the smell of smoke too and BO but sticking a spray of perfume on top of those doesn't improve either. YANBU.

It definitely just adds another layer. See also scented dog poo bags. The smell of dog poo overlaid with flowery scent is actually worse than the smell of the dog poo on its own.

I wish we could ban the everywhere:

"The negative impact of fragrance chemicals on human health includes cutaneous, respiratory, and systemic effects (e.g., headaches, asthma attacks, breathing difficulties, cardiovascular and neurological problems) and distress in workplaces."

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10051690/#:~:text=Disease%20symptoms%20related%20to%20fragrance,teratogenic%20toxicity%20effects%20%5B22%5D.

You’ve solved your own problem. It doesn’t have to be vic, Vaseline also works. According to a HCA . Just ask one of your visitors to bring you some.

Thierry Mugler Angel is this to me. It's so strong. In a tiny tiny tiny amount it's not actually unpleasant. But one spray is like boom!

i've worked in a scent free hospital (although no one followed the shampoo/conditioner/soap or deodorant extent of scent free) just no added perfume.
my local post office is also scent free.

If a spray of perfume could help alleviate the smell of rotting flesh mixed with infected leg ulcers and week old faeces then I think they should be perfectly entitled to do that.

But does perfume alleviate the smell or just add another layer?

I had an operation in the 80s, when I was in my teens. One of nurses who took care of me wore a really strong , overpowering perfume, Oscar de la Renta, I think. For years later, whenever I came across someone wearing it, I would feel nauseated.

@Wrongsideofpennines

"I work in healthcare and have been exposed to some pretty horrendous smells from patients. Many, many smells significantly worse than an overpowering perfume that's not to your taste. I have seen healthcare workers literally gagging, trying not to vomit from some smells. I've had go excuse myself from a room/house on more than 1 occasion to take a break from the smell.

If a spray of perfume could help alleviate the smell of rotting flesh mixed with infected leg ulcers and week old faeces then I think they should be perfectly entitled to do that."

Sorry where have I mentioned perfume shouldn't fe with because it's not to someone's taste!?! No I've pointed out that it nausea a lot of people unwell, sometimes very unwell and life-threatening. A very poor attempt at minimising. 1/10.

The risk if someone having a reaction to perfume is always going to outweigh anyone else possibly having to cope.with an unpleasant odour. Which may be unpleasant but is not harmful in any way. I can't believe that shone with any level of empathy would argue the opposite.

Plus you seem to think that I haven't had to deal with bad odours in my job. I have. Yes it's horrible. And I have a "nose like a bloodhound" for unpleasant odours. But it still doesn't not give me or anyone else an excuse to use fragrances at work or in healthcare settings that could make someone else ill.

I wear it but only in my opd clinic and a light fragrance.

I had an SHO working with me last year who I had to give out to. Dior savage he kept topping up throughout the day 🫠😂

We were always discouraged from strong smelling perfumes/ aftershave at work…doesn’t stop you wearing anti perspirant. I would certainly have mentioned it to students if they were wearing something over powering. Unfortunately post Covid maybe a few staff can’t smell properly anymore!

I've had to have my prescriptions sent to a different pharmacy as the one in my village now has a man working there who wears the most overpowering aftershave. It's actually vile and makes me feel seriously poorly if I have to be in there for a while.

I pity his poor colleagues.

I've just spent 5 days in hospital for something that caused nausea and appalling headaches among other things, and the whole way through I didn't have a single nurse, member of ward staff, consultant, anaesthetist, technician or porter who was wearing perfume, aftershave or any other strong scented products. I was umming and aahing about whether or not to mention it specifically in a thank you letter to the hospital but now I definitely will 😁

I work in healthcare and have been exposed to some pretty horrendous smells from patients. Many, many smells significantly worse than an overpowering perfume that's not to your taste. I have seen healthcare workers literally gagging, trying not to vomit from some smells. I've had go excuse myself from a room/house on more than 1 occasion to take a break from the smell.

If a spray of perfume could help alleviate the smell of rotting flesh mixed with infected leg ulcers and week old faeces then I think they should be perfectly entitled to do that.

Absolutely not. Especially midwives and people on Labour wards 🤷🏼‍♀️ but we’re going through a pandemic and infection control for respiratory diseases is still so shit that even people on chemo wards and in NICU aren’t t
aking precautions , so I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Of curse you can. Many people are allergic to fragrance or have sensitivities to it in one way or another - either it can grind on health issues such as migraines, or can trigger asthma attacks or as the OP has says can just make them feel more unwell because they are struggling with something like nausea. People should ba able to access healthcare without fear that it will make them ill/more ill.

There's absolutely no need for a healthcare worker to be wearing perfume and of course it should be banned in healthcare settings.

Same and I still don't 25 years down the line !

God there's one perfume in particular that's fairly popular and it literally makes me feel sick. It's so overpowering. You can smell people from miles away. It's like chemical warfare 🤢
I'd HATE it if i was in hospital and my nurse had that on.

I’d prefer it. We see a lot of healthcare professionals at home and I’d infinitely rather perfume than the strong smell of smoke many bring into the house.

In my Trust it's part of the uniform policy not to wear perfume. Having said that, I can imagine that ward nurses or HCAs on a long shift turning patients etc might get anxious that they smell sweaty and overcompensate with a spray of something in the changing room! It'd be reasonable for you to give feedback, so staff can be reminded.

I'm a nurse and never wear perfume for this very reason...I don't want to make my patients feel worse than they already do!

My opinion is that hospital staff shouldn't wear perfume. I also think that hospitals should let in a lot more fresh air than they do, but then I sleep with my bedroom windows open even in winter.

Personally if I know I'm going to be working with someone who is likely to be sensitive to smell I'll avoid perfume (I think for work freshly washed clothes is the way forward)

Perfume does not cover up the smell of cigarettes at all, it just adds to the odour. And likewise with the minty breath. Minty, perfumy cigarette smoker I smell you coming!

I know my thoughts on this are unpopular though