How to get rid of hospital smell?

1 You know what I'm talking about -- that persistent twang of alcohol gel or hospital hand soap that soaks into your pores over the course of a shift. I can't get rid of it even by showering when I get home; it's like I have to shed a layer of skin cells overnight before it's really gone (and then naturally I'm back to work again). Any brilliant suggestions? Would scrubbing with a loofah or something like that help?
In nearly a decade of bedside nursing, I have never had a problem with the smell of the hospital sticking to me. Perhaps it has something to do with the products your facility uses. Perhaps you might have a highly sensitive sensory system that causes you to be bothered by the alcohol/soap smell when others never noticed it.

I shower of course. Nothing other than that. I have to say I miss the hospital smell. Not all the smells, mind you, but the antiseptic smell.Where do you work, OP? Gastro?

Quote from FarawynI shower of course. Nothing other than that. I have to say I miss the hospital smell. Not all the smells, mind you, but the antiseptic smell.Where do you work, OP? Gastro?

I don't use hand gel unless absolutely necessary. I must prefer to actually wash my hands. However if you take a fresh cut lemon into the shower with you and rub it all over your skin and squeeze the juice into your hair while you shower you will drop some of that smell.Hppy

Quote from hppygr8fulI don't use hand gel unless absolutely necessary. I must prefer to actually wash my hands. However if you take a fresh cut lemon into the shower with you and rub it all over your skin and squeeze the juice into your hair while you shower you will drop some of that smell.Hppy

Personally, I'd rather have the soap and alcohol pad smells in my pores than GI bleed or a purulent wound. I remember running around for an entire shift with those odors emanating from me, driving home with them, and stripping off my scrubs in the garage before running downstairs to take the hottest shower I could stand. Yeccch.

Quote from VivaLasViejasPersonally, I'd rather have the soap and alcohol pad smells in my pores than GI bleed or a purulent wound.

Quote from TheCommuterYep. Smelling like hospital soap or alcohol foam is one hundred times better than reeking of poop, old blood, uremic frost or an infected wound.

Quote from Coffee NurseInteresting, I'll try that! Incidentally, how do you get on with washing your hands instead of gelling? I don't think I'd have the time or enough skin cells to wash and dry for every time I use handrub in a shift.