One of the worst rooms I ever smelled

[fireheart]

If your housekeeping team has it, Feli-Away works wonders.

But yeah, unneutered cats will do that....

[CatsLairArchives]

For someone like that, all other hotels/motels in the area should be notified. They should be banned from every hotel/motel in the area!

[paxillated]

How people can stand it... I used to live in an old Victorian house that was converted into apartments. It was on a steep hill, so the basement apartment had windows all across one side. That was occupied by a pair of... diseased droppings from a dead vulture's crotch. With 3 biggish dogs.

She invited me in. Augh! there was a path through the dogshit. In one corner it was at least 2 feet deep, and moldy. Later, I found out that (1) rather than going up one flight of stairs to where our NICE landlord had several trash cans for us, they just piled their bags along the side of the house (creating a rat problem); and (2) when food went bad in the cooking pot, she'd just throw it into the yard.

After they moved out, our poor landlord had to replace darn near everything - the cabinets, the stove & fridge, the floors, most of the walls, and the kitchen ceiling. And later the idiots called him to get a reference for assisted housing!!

[blas]

I had a girlfriend a few years back who worked cleaning hotel rooms. Now, this was not a big hotel. This is smalltown America, for Pete Sakes.

The worst she ever dealt with was the couple who left an entire box worth of used condoms all over the bed and floor, and then there was the middle school sports team that somehow had smeared and pounded chocolate pudding type cake (I think it's called "Dirt Cake" actually) and grounded it into the freaking carpet all over several rooms.

[lobo65]

It's too bad the hotel can't charge the woman for all of the days the room won't be available for rent.

[skeptic53]

Cheap face or dust masks from local pharmacy or hardware store. Put one mask on. Put a few drops of oil of wintergreen inside a second mask and tie it over the first. A bit hot but very effective.

Learned that trick working in a big rust-belt city ER.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

carved out phone book? It'd be so much easier to buy litter stuff.
... twenty-five an hour you say? /is tempted, even tho I see truth before me... even if it's just for a little bit, talk about bank!

[Sapphire Silk]

<snip>

After they moved out, our poor landlord had to replace darn near everything - the cabinets, the stove & fridge, the floors, most of the walls, and the kitchen ceiling. And later the idiots called him to get a reference for assisted housing!!

They are idiots. If I'd been the landlord, I'd say, "Sure, I'll give a reference! Don't rent to these fuckers if you value your property."

Cheap face or dust masks from local pharmacy or hardware store. Put one mask on. Put a few drops of oil of wintergreen inside a second mask and tie it over the first. A bit hot but very effective.

Learned that trick working in a big rust-belt city ER.

A word of warning: use extract of peppermint or wintergreen rather than an oil based form. Oil based forms can collect in the respiratory system and cause irritation and infection.

But it does work wonders . . . .

[skeptic53]

A word of warning: use extract of peppermint or wintergreen rather than an oil based form. Oil based forms can collect in the respiratory system and cause irritation and infection.

But it does work wonders . . . .

You are right, it was extract of wintergreen, not oil. After 27 years my memory was off. But I can't forget the way the patient smelled. He had diabetic ulcers all the way around his lower legs. Two weeks earlier he had walked out of the hospital to get his drink on; he was wearing wet-to-dry gauze dressings and they were still on his (now rotting) legs.

[Sapphire Silk]

You are right, it was extract of wintergreen, not oil. After 27 years my memory was off. But I can't forget the way the patient smelled. He had diabetic ulcers all the way around his lower legs. Two weeks earlier he had walked out of the hospital to get his drink on; he was wearing wet-to-dry gauze dressings and they were still on his (now rotting) legs.

I hear ya there!

I had a diabetic patient come in by ambulance for a fever. His leg ulcers were badly infected, and he had been using duct tape to secure the now several days old dressings in place. His blood sugar was also about 40, and he smelled like rot. After I stabilized his blood sugar, I had to remove the nasty dressings. It took me an hour to cut them all off without removing chunks of flesh with them, clean the wounds, and apply fresh dressings.

Then my charge nurse has the nerve to bitch at me for not paying attention to my assigned patients (this fellow wasn't in "my" part of the ER).

Me: Excuse me. Bob was in the trauma room with you on that code the past hour. Somebody had to admit this patient. If he'd sat there waiting for Bob to get freed up, he would have died from hypoglycemia!

Charge: Yes, but your patient in room 9 was getting out of control. You needed to deal with that.

Me: Room 9 is on the other side of the unit. Jane was right outside the door. I asked her to handle it while I dealt with the life threatening situation.

Charge: Room 9 was your patient.

Me: (losing my temper) Every patient in this ER is my patient! I don't ignore someone because they are not in "my" rooms! I do not and will not practice nursing that way!

I got written up anyway. Fortunately for me, it was a part time job (I was teaching full time by then), so I quit. I'd had enough.

But . . . back on topic: I've mentioned before a good trick for masking these kinds of odors is to take a nebulizer machine, and nebulize saline and extract of peppermint into a room. Safe, and lets you do your cleaning without having a mask get you claustrophobic.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Me: (losing my temper) Every patient in this ER is my patient! I don't ignore someone because they are not in "my" rooms! I do not and will not practice nursing that way!

*applauds*

You are the kind of nurse that my mom probably wishes she had more regularly when she has to go to the hospital.

[PepperElf]

you know i once brought my kitty to a hotel - didn't want to spend the night in my apartment cos it had been broken into earlier that day


but... i brought a litter box along. so kitty did his business in the box
not on the floor.

[skeptic53]

I've mentioned before a good trick for masking these kinds of odors is to take a nebulizer machine, and nebulize saline and extract of peppermint into a room. Safe, and lets you do your cleaning without having a mask get you claustrophobic.

That is BRILLIANT! Will use that next time we have the need! Thanks!

[chainedbarista]

apparently, panacea, your charge forgot the basics of triage; out of control doesn't fall under life/limb/eyesight, but the diabetic guy sure did. she should have been written up for her idiocy.

[Seshat]

but... i brought a litter box along. so kitty did his business in the box not on the floor.

And I'm sure that if kitty had had an accident, you would have cleaned it up yourself, yes?