Why do other people think it's ok to spray aerosols in a respiratory ward?! And why do people need to use so much?!
Woman sprayed a tonne of it yesterday morning and I had a rubbish day with back to back nebs and so on, by 7ish nurse was concerned that although nebs were doing the trick it had deteriorated again and I was tired. So she got them to review me before night team took over. The doctor managed to get a gas (first of 14 since Tues that's worked) which was useful as CO2 was high which is unusual for me. So med reg says to keep up with nebs as required and gives me IV mag. This requires a cannula and IV antisickness first (I'm such a delight...!)
Anyway eventually that helped and things settled overnight. Currently at 1.5hr max between nebs. But her selfishness basically lost me 24 hours recovery wise. Does my head in. If it's not that it's people who light up in the bay in the night. Seriously?!?!
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twinkly29
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Im really sorry to hear this and i do hope things do continue to improve again. Hopefully the nurse had words woth the particular patients.
NGL this is one of the reasons i prefer sode rooms when I’m in. I hate the isolation but it does stop this from occuring (that and a better nights sleep 😅)
People really just don’t think unfortunately. However its not everyone - I had one patient go apologetic last trip (pre isolation). She had out 2 sprays if perfume on after her shower (so not excessive and not deodorant which i tend to find worse if im in hosp)... happenstance meant she came out to witness me struggling with a coughing fit (completely unrelated)... she didn’t stop apologising and kicking herself for over 2 hours 😅🤦♀️. ‘I should have thought. This is a resp ward. Im so sorry’ etc etc (she was waiting for a pace maker so not resp). There are good people out there, but even they dont think sometimes... but ugh to the ones who just dont seem to care (these have caused me to go home ‘early’ before cause they kept triggering me and not my con and I drcided i was actually safer and home by that point 😅)
Hope you start to improve again as i said, and yeah... at least they managed to get a CO2 level so cans ee whats going on x
Oh I know it's not thinking rather than deliberate but it happens every admission so gets to me when it gets as bad as last night.
I often find it's those with the likes of bronchiectasis that are the main culprits - or rather "not asthma". Purely because it's not an issue for them so they wouldn't ever have considered it.
But I stand by my quantity thing. Overpowering scents are just ugh.
I disagree with you that perfume, aerosols don't effect COPD etc me and my sister cared for my mam for years with COPD and we couldn't use anything such as deodorant, perfume or household goods with smells as it made her poorly. Years later after we lost her we still don't use anything. I'm sorry that people don't think especially in hospital but I think most chest problems don't like aerosols not just asthmatics.
I agree with you. COPD can be like breathing through a straw with a suitcase on your chest. If someone suddenly sprays deodorant or hairspray then it can feel like there's no air left to breathe.
I’m happy to bow out to people with experience/knowledge, however I should imagine it’s a similar thing to people with asthma... it affects some but not others, and some will just use and ignore the consequences for themselves and others.
This isn’t a bitching post aimed at a particular resp group really, just a post about the situation and results of (and our experience of the usual ‘culprits’... cause LBH those magical hospital curtains aren’t soundproof, so you usually know what everyone’s in for 😅😉)
Then why include other chest groups plus name and shame them? Lots of folks suffer very similar to you. I didn't think it was a bitching post just a very insensitive one.
I wasn't naming and shaming, just talking about my experience. Perfectly happy for others to share their experiences too and it's useful to know that COPD can be similar. Plus no-one said it's ALL people with any one condition. I'm sure some asthmatics will do it as well as, if it's not a trigger of theirs, they wouldn't think about it. Not sure I'll bother in future.
Ha. I know asthmatics who did it too... ‘it doesn’t trigger me, therefore it’s fine for everyone’... that’s just less common with aerosols and asthma but I have heard it
Absolutely what Emma said. It's definitely the "in my experience" bit. Other visitors coming in stinking of smoke and/or perfume, man spray etc are just as bad.
I completely agree with you - I often have a problem with other patients, cleaners and even some nurses who spray air fresheners (lethal for me), perfumes, deodorants etc on the respiratory ward. My asthma is very brittle, so doesn't need much of an excuse to kick off. You would think that there would be an NHS-wide policy re spraying these products, esp on respiratory/general med, but there isn't, putting patients like us at high risk of life-threatening exacerbations. And don't even get me started on the smokers outside the respiratory OPD at my local hospital! They actually stand on the no-smoking signs, blatently smoking.
I am not severe, yet I can really relate to what you are saying! I once had a weird, non-hospital, experience. I was seeing a client in a small room. This guy likes his aftershave (he has reduced/stopped now when he sees me), and he had some on, but I could manage. However, over the hour or so we met in this room the smell got stronger and stronger. I began to wonder if there was a small hole in the wall somewhere and someone was pumping it in, as it got worse and worse. Anyway, I talked to this guy about it some other time. He had bought some cheap stuff which increased the perfumey smell once on warm skin. It wasn’t all in my head, but nor was it being pumped in!
I have also had to talk to a doctor about her levels of perfume......
Many bronchiectatics, like me, have developed it after decades of severe asthma and are also highly sensitive to fumes & strong smells.
Ha. I’m not trying to tar with the same brush and doubt twinkly29 is either 😅 (goodness knows us asthmatics are constantly tarred so would hate to iutright di it to others 😅). Just in my experience the ‘sprayers’ are typically bronchiectasis or COPD... or just young and dont think....
I had a a charge nurse in A and E who had bathed in aftershave! And not good stuff either (I find the quality perfume or aftershave is ok for me). He was nice but I wanted to ask him not to come near me!
So helpful. One of my worst was on amu. Young patient admitted (early/mid 20s). Sprays herself all over almost straight away, signs out AMA within an hour, then they realise she has flu so massive decontamination of the area... and there was me almost on b2b nebs cause justbkept triggering 🙄😒
I know my old spec hosp ‘banned’ perfume/sprays on their workers wh were on resp ward... witnessed one get sent to shower 😂
I fail to understand why it isn’t banned in all hospitals, everywhere within it. I have a lot of contacts with Sweden, and there it is better known, though not perfect, there are issues with any smellies.
On the flip side I went through a period about 9 years ago of being in hospital on humidified oxygen for 2 weeks every month for 6 months and was frequently looked after by the critical care outreach team who were phenomenal.
The best outreach nurse always wore the same aftershave and even when I was pretty much out of it I could smell him approaching and the knowledge he was near definitely relaxed me as I had total confidence in his ability.
I would add it was just a hint of it he wore, not a gagging amount 😉😀.
Ugh so sorry Twinkly! So frustrating. Had someone spray deodorant everywhere leading me to need nebs and sit in corridor for 2 hours -thankfully not as bad as you but still ugh. Nurse told her off but still grr.
In that hosp have actually had a lot of issues with staff doing it!! Air freshener in resus (thankfully they told me to stay in bay and tbh getting to loo was hard anyway but still), nurse on resp ward - really?! - making me need a neb but then the medics ignored that I had needed, and an HCA who sprayed in the admittedly smelly bathroom. Problem was I was struggling.to get to even that one and it was next to me - I then had to struggle to get to another loo and kept being told I should rest not shower...hello I just need a loo and they didn't get it!
Also visited a friend once and someone sprayed dry shampoo - she was worse as admitted but affected me too.
There so often seems to be a can of air freshener in the bathroom which I always ask to be taken out. Agree that it would be nice if people could think and not use these, especially not staff on A and E and resp wards!!
I have once removed those diffusers - stick things in a bottle - from a shop’s toilet. I hid it sort of in the main shop - more space for, the scent to fill, rather than in their loo. I lack courage to do it as often as I would like, but I am working on it.
I too am sick and tired with this too. In my opinion no chemicals should ever be use in respiratory wards ever. As someone with brittle asthma it pisses me off that there is not a band worldwide. I have had 4 attacks while in hospital after a major exsaibation only to made far more sick dew to dumb people not listening to my request not to use chemicals in or around my hospital bed. Let's all start a push for a no chemicals on respiratory ward worldwide. I hope all my UK lung mates can get on board. I will try to do my bit down here in Australia. End chemicals now in Respiratory wards campaign.
That’s just awful having to go through another 24 hours of struggling. You must be exhausted.
Unfortunately people just don’t think. Whatever is in the atmosphere will eventually find its way into your lungs! As a respiratory ward with all the experience of people being triggered by aerosols, of all sorts of descriptions, maybe patients should be encouraged to use a roll on deodorant or to try and do without during their short stay. I know it’s all about choice etc etc but it’s a minor inconvenience next to being unable to breath.
OMG. I've never been hospitalised but am shocked to think that this could happen, even scared. On a similar vain I go to an Art Group on Fridays, last week I walked in and was aware of perfume immediately, at that point I could not identify the culprit, I started painting, my breathing was getting shallow and fast and then realised she was extremely close to me. So I discretely moved as far away as I could, and all was well. However during the day she came to see my painting and I tried my best not to breath in or talk to much, she must have thought I was very rude. Then again I was chatting to 2 other friends and my chest started to tighten up and discovered she was behind me, I couldn't smell it but the damage was being done. Thinking about I've not been as good as normal since, just a bit Off.
Ive never been hospitalised so far. But wanted to share my experiences of chemicals. I worked in a school at the same time as the cleaners were in and there was no issues until the clever janitor (i use the term clever very very loosely) decided to use 2 chemicals at the same time sprayed into the air in the room next door to where i was working.. i have really bad reactions to chemicals and by the next morning i was struggling a lot and ended up in emergency doctors appointments. I went back to the same janitor asking him what he used and got told that was none of my business so i asked him to come and tell me before he used them again which he agreed to . Very same evening he did the exact same. It led eventually to me needing to move school because of his actions. And i was told it cant have been his chemicals because he was asthmatic and it didnt effect him.
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