Credits: Social Media
Dying people can smell like ‘nail polish remover’, says a hospice nurse
A hospice nurse was prompted to make a video about the “Smell of Death” when people wouldn’t stop asking her about the odor that comes from people on their deathbeds.
Content creator and certified nurse, Julie, talks extensively about the dying process to bring more awareness among people about the end of life. In her YouTube channel with over 450,000 subscribers, she has talked about several deathbed phenomena, which may help others cope with the loss of their loved ones more healthily.
Hospice nurse discusses ‘smell of death’
It’s Julie’s goal to normalize conversations surrounding death by getting the facts right. In her most recent video, she revealed that the “Smell of Death’ is the most-asked-about topic in her comments and DMs.
The hospice nurse explains that dying people can smell differently depending on their condition. As she says, the same generalization wouldn’t work for everyone.
“When a body is dying or shutting down, there are metabolic changes that are happening in the body’s chemistry and those biological changes are causing the breath, the skin, and body fluids to give off a certain scent,” she explains.
However, because of how the human body functions, certain odors are associated with pre-existing health conditions. Sometimes you can get the smell of Ammonia and other times it can be “bad.”
Some foul odors could also be the result of restricted body movements in patients with conditions like MS, dementia, and more. Julie says it’s the responsibility of the patient’s family or loved ones to ensure they are clean and bathed regularly.
People on deathbeds can smell like a lot of things
In the 4-minute video, the hospice nurse describes different kinds of smells she has been exposed to in her career while explaining the cause for the same.
When a person is dying a natural death, the body may give off a scent which the nurse compares to “nail polish remover or Ammonia”. However, if there’s ketosis happening in the body due to conditions such as cancer, the person or their breath may smell “fruity.”
Whereas, if the dying person had liver or kidney issues, they can smell like “bleach.” Julie says several other scents given off by people on their deathbeds aren’t pleasant, but only natural.
Julie McFadden is a certified RN/BSN and author, who believes in educating people about the dying process before theyre going through it with a loved one or themselves. She has been featured in several leading media outlets including Newsweek, New York Post, People, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and Daily Mail.
