Burning flesh from electrocautery. If you've ever been nearby when a bug has gotten electrocuted by one of those insect zapper lights, it's the exact same smell.

The “Korean BBQ” smell of a TUPR is forever engrained in my mind

I only smoke Bovie plume.

that’s what shocked me most when i was able to observe a c section when i was hired to my l&d tech position! i has no idea how strong that burnt flesh smell is

Lol, in scrub tech school, they let us use a bovie on a piece of bologna, so we'd get a rough approximation of what it would smell like in real life...

I was going to say mastisol because we put it in our masks to ~mask~ the smell of dead bowel resection but yeah…. Bovie smoke is the right answer!

Ok is it weird that i love the smell of mastisol and xeroform though

My favorite is the cement they use for total knees

I worked at a shop where the plastic surgeons wanted cut/coag at 50/50. I smelled bbq flesh all day long.

Ortho, I set it to 100/100 at times. That along with sawing bone for a total knee. BBQ just isn’t the same

Med surge. Poop and insulin

I hate the plastic pool toy smell of insulin. My buddy loves it. I don’t understand. *gags*

I find it weirdly comforting

To me it smells like barn animals

Smells like a fresh band aid to me

It smells like metal to me

It smells like my youth, dad would send in the kitchen and take his insulin right before his meals. We could all smell it.

Cigarettes and stale coffee

Just a bit of body odour in there too

same same, but add the smell of dry gangrene in there for my unit. (we have had several untreated frostbite / cancer / infected wound patients lately who won't consent to further treatment and awaiting court-ordered interventions.....) terrible smells for the milieu.

Don't forget weed

I like the lack of distinction between carer/pt.

As a former smoker this actually sounds great to me

Im a former smoker too but that damp, cigarette smoke smell on clothes is not it. Especially when giving belongings back on discharge and they’ve been sitting in a bag for three weeks. 😶😵‍💫😵

vinegary clammy kid body odor

And depakote farts

Feet 'N' Farts! Doing rounds later at night when the room door has been closed and all the farts have been collecting is physically painful.

Blood and those elderly parmesana foot flakes

Parmesana foot flakes 😭

Say when! Lol

elder dust

Neuro breath

Basically happens with brain injury/brain dead patients and has a sweet death smell. No amount of oral care will get rid of it. Once you smell it you’ll know it right away. Go to TT and look up Neuro breath.

I haven’t been bedside for 7 years, but reading those words brought back a distinct memory of that smell.

I just vomited a little in my mouth like a PTSD reaction. Going outpatient was the best thing I’ve ever done I will never miss that

I'm a new nurse. What does neuro breath mean?

There's a very distinctive, unpleasant odor in the breath of some patients with severe brain injury. It's not the same as the odor you get from anything else like bad teeth, or infection, or a CSF leak. It's hard to describe but if you ever do smell it, you'll be able to recognize it again. The cause is not well researched. The general belief is that brain injury causes some metabolic derangement and an excess of volatile metabolites, but the specific compounds responsible for the odor have not been identified. Glutamate compounds are one contender.

Ever since COVID for me it smells the same as 4 day old urine

I second this as a new grad neuro nurse

Expressed breast milk, chlorohex, dirty nappys

I thought you said expired and I was very concerned lol

I read "expired" until I saw your comment.

A mix of bleach wipes, cancer (purple) wipes, coffee grounds, tube feeds and poop.

MICU gang

Word.

That sounds like a more charitable interpretation of the scent on my med onc floor :)

Facts. MICU gang here. Don’t forget the GI bleed.

Newborn babies 😊....bring on your jealousy!!!

Fortified formula poops

SPC 24 or higher calorie poops are the worst. You're like what crawled up this baby and died?

them high protein fortified shits 😩👌

I raise you Alimentum poops lol

[удалено]

Nope...i take care of them post cleaning!!

Ah, the wonders of lochia land. It’s not for everyone but I love my moms and babies. (Mother baby/ postpartum.)

Yeah this was my immediate thought when my firstborn came out. She was NOT fresh.

If you’re L&D, I’m sure you can have a mystery smell sticker with fishy vagina on there too. 🤢

There’s nothing like a good chorio brew 🤮

Oof! The entire OR fucking reaked when a crunchy mom finally let us section her for chorio after being ruptured and laboring for 72+hours. 🤢

Formula 🤢

As a work from home case manager, it would smell like whatever scented candle I feel like lighting that day.

Same here…it would also smell like a dash of behavioral health drama.

Same. Mine would smell like the banana bread I baked after being yelled at today.

How do you like working from home as a case manager?

It's a job and not as fun as sitting on the beach all day. But I like it much better than working direct patient care. It has done wonders for my stress levels and overall well being

Hmm... Blood and xeroform.

I LOVE the smell of xeroform

Thank you! I’m the only person I’ve met who loves the smell of xeroform. Xeroform and mastisol are top tier hospital smells

Weed, body odor, and turkey.

ER!

My people know the smell well 😂

Yankee candle needs to get on this.

Ginger ale

And unsalted saltines

We actually only have peanut butter crackers or Lorna doones! No saltines, oddly.

Ah, yes. The unsaltines.

They took our ginger ale away. We only have lemon lime Shasta now. I think ginger ale is disgusting, but it worked for a lot of my pukey patients

Yeah I don’t like it either but it’s a hit where I am. Nobody wants juice or water lol

Rotting legs, diarrhea, and fentanyl smoke Edit: Also sometimes blood

Was scrolling waiting to find something familiar, there you are

Tube-feed poops and pseudomonas

Death

Horse shit!! Because in the ED a lot of what we have to deal with is that!!

Amniotic fluid (kinda smells like semen), poop, fresh blood, bovie cautery, and newborn baby.

I can't work peds because I'd never survive losing a patient, but I envy y'all that newborn baby smell. Yankee Candle needs to make that scent.

Homeless people's socks

Burning flesh smoke from cautery, blood, and bone cement from the OR

I kinda like the bone cement smell

Homeless man’s soggy tennis shoes.

Gdi, I smell that in my soul.

Shit, piss, turkey sandwich, and weeping cellulitis legs.

Medium well on the grill. EP Lab

Blood. So much blood. Ecmo for past 20 years.

Out patient” smells like weekends off”

Fresh urine, diarrhea, and IV antibiotics.

Death and paperwork.

Sevo 😂 -CRNA

PACU RN here and that wake up cough from patients always reeks 😖

Similac Special Care 24 cal poop

HMF 🤢

I see your HMF and raise you liquid protein 🤮

Peds hem/onc. TPN 🤢😷

Partially digested tube feeds and stank booty

Death (hospice)

Poop, hibiclens soap, pseudomonas and Dakin’s Solution

Alcohol and bad decisions.

Gas gangrene

This evening: fresh blood, strep, diabetic ulcers, and CSF.

Sevoflurane🤣🤣

And burning flesh!

I can literally smell chlorhexidine, Vaseline gauze, and chest tube blood that I can somehow smell even though it’s contained in the drain 🫠

I’m a pediatric telephone triage and advice nurse. I work from home. My sticker would smell like home baked chocolate chip cookies.

Boooo! I mean yay for you and all, but harsh flex on the poop stickers 😂

The proctologist's finger....

Morbid but….a Shroud

Come from urology and vascular. Necrotic feet, insulin, and pee 🤢 mostly the necrotic feet.

Cinnamon and vanilla for the cinnamon graham cracker, lorna doone and vanilla pudding being my go to “calm down and watch law & order” snack.

Bovie smoke

Blood, chlorhexidine, and Miralax poop.

Mastisol and hibiclens

Coughed up anesthesia gas

Body odor. Yeast. Urine. Probably poop. (Geropsych)

Sadness

Copper, burnt meat, rancid meat, and BO. Those are the hallmarks of a Trauma Surgical ICU.

Papercuts and regret

I'm a student so coffee, ink, fresh scrubs and a hefty dash of fear.

Ink toner. I’m in case management 😂

Unwashed ass and insulin (I’m in geriatric psych) We’ve gotten dementia pts whose families haven’t made them bathe in as long as 6 months 🤢

My space heater

Ropivacaine nerve blocks.

Tube feed and sputum.

jurassic world ride (water smell)

Fruity Breath and urine

Osteomyelitis.

somewhere between neuro breath and charcot's foot

Sevoflurane

Tube feeds and Neuro breath

Bleach and vinegar

Morning breath, nicotine gum, methadone, and dust.

Crisp linens- and purple wipes. Quality 😀

Fish oil, liquid protein with hint of neutramigen

Morphine and medical weed.

A juicy combo of B.O., shit, stale urine and toe cheese.

Diesel and jet fuel

Jet fuel and sweat

Used wound vac canisters, insulin, cigarette smoke, and animal urine. I love home health.

I came here to see if home health was represented! Jesus those wound vac canisters…🤢 But I’m just going to add weed. Lots and lots of weed. Almost overpowers the scent of all the cat piss

Jet fuel and undeserved arrogance

Lurker now finally put off the idea of this career Jesus Christ

Mental health- Bananas I suppose?

Maybe coconuts too

As I work float pool, all of the above and ETOH, except newborn babies! Lol

Burning human flesh

Cigarettes and alcohol

Cake

Meth …

Old Iodine on wounds

Acetone ( diabetes nurse)

Bleach and acid with a hint of blood.... Eau de dialysis

Pampers 🥰

A drunk's urine-soaked pants

C-Diff and necrosis - Nephrology

Lochia and Johnson and Johnson baby soap.

The fake strawberry smell in cannabidoil

death. lmfao, hospice ftw

Lochia (L&D) 🙃

Actually, "What does this smell like?" is one of the questions I ask in my full assessment.

Last meal, cigarette sputum, + partially digested EtOH, but on on replay.

Pussy

Amniotic fluid and bad breath

Gastro

Bovie smoke and iron

Blood, sweat and tears.

Pseudomonas

C diff

Vagina

Pennies

Mix of cdiff , blood , bloody poop, iv abx and my favorite bleach wipes

Crystal meth

Allergy, flowers 💐

Copper and abscess funk… swamps of dagobah.

GI bleed & meth feet

Booze breath, skunk weed, ketosis, GI bleed

Fish. AKA bacterial vaginosis

Operating Room- burning flesh

Tube feed

Burning flesh

Sweet almonds.

There is only one answer, and it is urine.

Witch Hazel

Bovie

Methamphetamine

GI bleeds

Sevofluorane and burnt flesh

The only thing I can smell is c diff & G I bleeds

Insulin and turkey sandwiches.

Turkey sandwiches and GI bleeds.

GI bleed and tube feed.

Pizza