resp wards and air freshners

why do nurses do it ????.... makinme neb ... so nbeliveable ... sorry we didnt know .. more like think!!!

[Hidden]

i agree they def need to think. its a pain.

[KateMoss]

Oh and people using pit spray in the loos thinking it won't affect you as it isn't sprayed near your bed. The loo room is quite small!

My ward seemed to be OK regarding air fresh stuff and flowers are banned!

[Hidden]

Derriford not only use air fresheners but also talcum powder liberally!

Bex

[Hidden]

Iused to work on a resp ward and we where not allowed flowers on there but the toher staf would use talc and sprays on the patients who had them when i was about and it used to set me off big time!!! they donet hink some people!!.xx

[Hidden]

last time I was in someone sprayed half bottle perfume over a relative. If they can ban flowers please can they ban everything else that smells as well

[Hidden]

Just my 2 cents but I don't think they ban flowers because they smell. They can be a source of infection. Well think about it you have say 6 people in a bay with chest infections. At the end of the bay you have a vase of flowers with water, infection can live quite nicely in water in a warm environment.

Tks xx

[Hidden]

The infection risk is certainly the main reason why flowers are banned in ICUs and most HDUs. In respiratory wards I think it's predominantly infection, but I suppose pollen-allergic asthmatics come into it too. When I was last on my resp ward, I had two people with lilies in my bay, one next to me and one opposite to me! I'm not anaphylactically allergic to lilies like some, but they make me wheeze and make my sinuses swell very painfully. I asked the nurses to move them, and they put them at the end of the bay so they were further away - better, but still not ideal. I would love an outright flower ban on my respiratory ward.

Other smelly things are a bit more difficult, I think, although I can understand the frustration of being exposed to them. It would be very difficult to ban every staff member, patient and relative from using all spray deodorants, perfumes, talc, hairspray etc. I've even been in a situation where a patient in the next bed to me was having her ulcerated legs soaked in something (I think it was potassium permanganate) that smelt very strong, and my lungs were in a twitchy state, and it set me off! And as for patients who go off the ward and come back stinking of fag smoke... don't get me started.

At the end of the day, though, there's a difficult balance to be struck between other people's autonomy to have the products they want, and our right not to have our breathing made worse. There's only so far we can go in demanding a hermetically sealed environment in which to be protected from these things - if every ward banned everything that every person on here was allergic to, then eating, cleaning the place, and doing any medical procedure or giving any drug would all be virtually impossible! I suppose all that we can ask for is a little bit of awareness and vigilance about the more common triggers, and consideration of our own personal triggers as much as possible.

Take care everyone

Em

[Hidden]

well.... i agree they cant band everything but to walk up and down the ward continually spraying air freshner is not clever.... apparently i 'scared' them

they are not using them ...not once did they apologise

as for flowers it seems tp be one rule for one and one for another!!!

anyways sooner i get out the better!!

[Hidden]

i spent a week in a small community hospital after my ICU stay and the stuff they mopped the floors with used to trigger me off, but the guy who did the housekeeping was really lovely and waited until i went to physio to mop my room.

On a slightly different note, anyone else agree with me that if they canban smoking in pubs (yay) then they should ban dogs too? They can cause just as much damage to some people, surely?

Just a suggestion.

Emz x

[Hidden]

I don't think that would work, Crazybaby. There is very good evidence that second hand smoke is harmful to *everyone* - it increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease in all people, rather than just causing harm to a minority. Therefore it can quite justifiably be regarded as a public health risk to allow people to smoke in public places.

Dogs (or in fact any other allergen) are a health risk only to a minority - so you can't make the argument that they're a general public health risk. And, of course, even if they did ban dogs (which I believe some pubs do, especially if they serve food) pubs would still be obliged to allow service animals in - and quite rightly, too.

It's a nice idea, but again, taking it to its logical extreme, it wouldn't be possible to ban every substance that there had ever been a proven allergic reaction to! Numbers are always going to win. There is an issue of where you draw the line - I know there are some schools that ban nuts, because that is the most common food-based anaphylactic allergy, but I'm not aware of anywhere that bans other substances - is anyone else?

It's a recurrent issue in disability rights - to what extent do we have the right to inconvenience or impose restrictions on others in order to have allowances made for our disabilities or conditions? I'm becoming less and less sure of the answer, the more I experience life and travelling as a wheelchair user.

It's an interesting topic for debate, though - any ideas, anyone?

Em

[Hidden]

Flowers are banned in HDU ICU and high care areas in our local due the risk of water spilling on lots of necessary electrical equipment the flower shelves sit above the monitors.....good design!

You can have flowers in that green arranging mushy stuff can't remember what its called!!

I agree is a pain!

As i have said many times on here before we have a PAT dog that visits the resp ward in our local and being very allergic to dogs i need not post further my views on that!

Oh and note to Em and Bex they are considering adding a lop? rabbit to the collection too...........

Having a severe severe nut allergy this may sound wierd but i don't think schools should be nut free zones, preschools yes as the kids are too young to take responsibility. It gives children a false sense of security and means they don't ask the questions they would in any other situation.

The first reaction my daughter had at school were because she assumed the marzipan she was given to make shapes out of was nut free and therefore didn't ask because she was at school. Anywhere else she would have questioned it.

Every day life cannot be risk free and some nut allergic children grow up protected not even knowing what a nut looks like and so don't know how to avoid them! (this is true i know one mum has now made a scrapbook of pictures of things to avoid!!!)

Marmite

[Hidden]

i know they can't ban everything but surely they could put signs up on resp wards asking people to be considerate if they have to use perfume and aerosols? esp since you can easily access roll on deodorants.

[Hidden]

I think dogs are banned in most places except if they are assistance dogs. I've spent quite a lot of time arguing with people who try and chuck me out of places. I'd find it incredibly difficult to live without my Sandie. I can't describe in one setnence all the things she does/has done for me. I have better posture, more confidence, I get the help I need because people recognise I have a sight problem, I no longer have migraines, I'm never lonely, I walk faster and more confidently. Sandie can always make me laugh, gives me a cuddle when I'm down. Remembers routes that I can't, finds doors, bins, shops, bus stops, post boxes all these little things are very hard to find with a cane.

Assistance dogs should be groomed on a daily basis to keep the hair and dander to a minimum. The amount of guide dog staff who comment on how good Sandie's coat is I'm not so sure that happens a lot of the time . I keep Sandie very well groomed because she picks up dust and dander and this is what sets my asthma and allergies off. There could be the option of them bringing in more breeding stock that didn't malt as they already do this for people who have allergies/asthma and want to be a guide dog owners. The do standard poodles crossed with labs or curly coat retrievers. I met someone who had a lab/retriever cross which wasn't supposed to malt as she had asthma but all the lab retriever crosses I've met have malted.

The people that really get to me are those that stroke Sandie and then complain that they are allergic! Or the ones that call her but then say 'Oh I can't stroke you!'. How confusing is that for her?

I think its very difficult to balance people's needs isn't it?

[Hidden]

Thanks for commenting, Beth, it's really interesting to get a perspective from someone with a visual impairment, as usual!

It's difficult when people with different disabilities have conflicting needs - I find the tactile paving stones at junctions really uncomfortable to go over in my wheelchair, it seems to jar every bone in my body, but I totally understand the necessity of having them to aid visually impaired people.

Em