Sammanfattning
Background: Unpleasant odours in the home or emanating from a person are socially unacceptable and shame-related. Currently, little research has been conducted into how community nurses perceive and deal with unpleasant odours in their interactions with service users and how service users experience the nurse’s choice of action.
Objective: The objective of the study is to examine how nurses perceive and deal with the problem of smell in the home, and how the service users experience and view the nurses’ choice of action.
Methods: We carried out a qualitative study in which we observed and interviewed 30 nurses and 11 patients in three community nursing districts in a large Norwegian town.
Results: Unpleasant odours in homes were most often caused by illness and service users’ inadequate hygiene. The nurses regarded smell in the home as shame-related. They felt that service users were doubly vulnerable because both the person and the home were exposed to others’ disgust. They wanted to protect service users from feeling shame. The most usual strategies were removing smell through practical action, avoiding discernible physical reactions to smell, and keeping quiet about the problem. The service users felt that removing smells through practical action was important for their feeling of social confidence. Silence reinforced their sense of shame and loneliness, and sometimes contributed to a poorer range of treatment options. Service users wanted there to be more openness.
Conclusion: There is a need for more openness and expertise about the problem of smell in the home. It is important to ask about service users’ experiences and wishes in order to develop appropriate nursing and treatment options.