Stink

I'm walking down the patient hallway. And it smells like someone just took a nice big healthy dump. And I wince as I'm walking past the nurses station. And they are all just going about their business as though nothing happened. And I say, "You guys are acting as though it doesn't stink in here!" And the nurses break out in laughter. 

A week later, after having the past six days off, I walked by this nurses station again. And one nurse said, "You should have been here yesterday. It smelled like poop all day. In fact, I even got poop on me." And she laughed. 

And I'm like, "I prefer PEEP not poop." And here I get another burst of laughter. 

I have always found it interesting how you can smell something horrible during the normal course of your life, and walk the other way. You can walk into a stinky bathroom and decide to use another bathroom. But, when you are nurses, you are exposed to nasty smells on a daily basis. And you just learn to pretend it's not there and go about your business. 

Thankfully, as a respiratory therapist, we do our work as fast as we can and move to an area that has a more enjoyable smell. Nurses are stuck whether there is a good smell or not.