Why does hospital smell

According to the subjective perception and interpretation of a subject's olfactory memory, the olfactory sensations, due to their emotional and therapeutic reactions humor, depression, euphoria, irritation, repulse or seduction , may cause the same smell to be either pleasant or unpleasant. Nowadays, smells can be assessed according to parameters like concentration, intensity and characteristics, through complex instruments for analysis and physical-chemical measures of smell emissions, such as olfactometers, nitrogen spectrometers, gas chromatographers, electronic noses and others.

However, these instruments cannot define subjective characters, for instance the hedonic tone of a smell or its aesthetic characteristics, according to the olfactory pleasure or displeasure. An attempt for this definition is the "Wheel of Smells", which identified categories by subjective meanings Bad smells have aroused the greatest scientific interest in the sense of smell 4.

Aromatic substances have been scientifically disqualified at the end of the XIX century, because they were a mask for bad smells. After Pasteur's findings, scientists supported that bad smells were sub products of pathologic agents, and medicine turned to the microbes' world and no longer at the smells analysis miasmas.

Over the last two centuries, smells have gained room in research and the culture of the deodorized body motivates the immensurable production of products that mask the body's smells: deodorants, lotions, soaps, talcum powders and ointments 7. Besides the control of the body's smells, the diagnosis, treatment and inspection of environmental smells are also promoted, in all spaces of human public or private activity.

The aspects presented and those described by Wosny 17 inspire some deductions about the aesthetics of smells and Nursing care. The human being naturally has the sense of smell, interacts with the environment, perceives and interprets smell sensations according to their aesthetic traits, which can be pleasant, unpleasant, comforting or disturbing.

Olfactory sensations, possible through subjective aesthetic interpretations, allow for the expression of feelings and physical or psychological comfort or discomfort. Studies about the olfactory perceptions present in the care environment, their origins and causing factors will contribute to the quality of Nursing care and to greater comfort and security for the people in this space or context.

Abrir menu Brasil. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem. Abrir menu. Recebido em: There is certainly value in this approach; combined with hospital records, chemistry allows us to understand and even to recreate exactly how the smell of hospitals has changed over time. Another answer to this question might be more cultural, and would think more about what this smell represents rather than what it is in chemical terms.

Smell has always had social and class connotations: ways of describing the smell of other people is particularly revealing in this regard, and also an important part of hospital sensescapes. Studies suggest that the nose can sense ten basic smells.

However, the story is not so straightforward or linear. Some hospitals have sought to mask such chemical scents and succeeded in removing aroma to a significant degree. To many people smell seems of little significance, yet it is a powerful sense, having evolved earlier than the more complex senses of sight and hearing. This connection offers interesting health challenges and potential benefits.

Smell may affect mood, but the relationship between the two is not direct. There are no smells certain to improve or even change emotions. This may explain why so many patients hate the smell of hospitals. So what does that mean for medical professionals? Firstly, patients who already dread treatment may have an additional spike in anxiety on simply smelling the air where they are treated, which could affect their response to certain therapies.

Stress is associated with slower wound healing and stress hormones suppress immunity by affecting cytokine profiles. She was as pleasant as the smell was unpleasant. She made me laugh and wished me well on my journey in medicine. Our team discharged her from the hospital on her birthday so she could go celebrate with her family. Although she knew that she didn't have long to live and that she would be back in the hospital before long, she wanted to enjoy as much of her remaining time as possible with her loved ones.

That patient lives on in my extensive library of clinical olfactory memories. Other pieces in my permanent recollection include the fruity breath of a patient with diabetic ketoacidosis , the musty aroma of fetor hepaticus from a patient with a failing liver, the Fritos corn chip smell of bone dust, and the burnt cuttlefish fragrance of cauterized fat: All of these scents, for me, are connected with a particular feeling or person or experience.

These are the ghosts that linger with me at the hospital. And while many of the smells in the hospital remind me of sad times -- such as the sharp tang of blood pooling from a dying patient -- there are a few I associate with joy: the soft, warm scent of babies cradled in their mothers' arms; the post-shower freshness of a formerly bed-bound patient; the aroma of freshly-brewed coffee in the workroom. These scents, and the memories that go with them, stir my heart when I least expect it, often providing a much-needed pick-me-up during a long, tough day at the hospital.