Medical Malpractice

What do hospitals smell like?

I'm working on my novel, and the MC is currently in the hospital after having what the doctors think was a sezure. The thing is, the only time I've ever actually been inside a hospital is when my father had his appendix removed when I was 10, and I don't remember much. So, do hospitals have any particular smell, like a dentist office, or do they just smell sort of... clean? Woah, thank you all so much! I didn't expect this much help... If you want to read what I have up so far you can go here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/183291 (Just warning you, it's fantasy. I know some people don't like that.)

Public Comments

1. due to the influx of daily humans, the hospitals keep the air conditioning cool and the smell is of anestheptics
2. They use chemicals to remove odors, or at least remove your sense of smell around strong odors. Every time I have been in the hospital, it smells like paper and ink, due to all the paper wrappers, products, and documents everywhere.
3. A clean hospital should smell either like clorox or some other cleaning agent. Like you said a clean smell. A dirty hospital can smell like rotting flesh, feces, urine or other bodily discharges.
4. Vomit, urine, fecal matter, body odor, cleaning supplies (though that is a faint smell at the best of times).
5. It is the smell of the disinfectant that they use. ✩
6. They smell like antiseptics normally.. There is the temporary smell of body eliminations. (poop...urine and vomit) but, that is usually cleaned up quickly. Good luck on your novel.
7. they smell of sickness and dispare...not clean
8. In the olden days when I was just a pup, they smelled like cloves and brown lysol disinfectant-now, they smell really clean!!!!!
9. It smells like antispetic. And it smells of misery and sickness
10. I worked in a hospital for awhile, and didn't notice a particular smell EXCEPT the nursery area smelled like baby powder. The morgue area was sealed shut by a large garage-type door, but the smell in the hallway was strong. I've never smelled dead bodies before so I don't know what they smell like - I would guess it was the embalming chemicals I smelled, since I doubt they'd let dead bodies rot there. That's my experience anyway. Now please check out my very intriguing question: is the first one on my Q&A in my profile. I really need help with it! Thank you!
11. Dead people on the morgue, vomit, blood, urine, poop. Emergency rooms smells badcos its where injured people go through first but they do spray some air refresher or the air sanitizer is in the centralized ir conditioning and a mixture of disinfectcants and those I mentioned above..Sometimes its really hard to remove those smells cos lots of people do it righ? especially in hospitals..Its okay in dental clinics cos the dentist can buy his own air refreshener but hospitals are too big and those can be found everywher.... Before I end this, GOOD LUCK on you novel
12. air sanitizer spray ,i think that's what you call it. if it smells rotten constantly, they might not be very clean.
13. Wow, good luck on your novel. I've been a patient in many different hospitals and the smell depends on what ward you are on. When I was on the GI ward, it smelled of feces a lot. Emergency rooms smelled of people, BO, dirty hair. Cafeterias smell like food. Hospitals smell a little like schools. Hospitals do not smell like disinfectant. Even operating rooms do not smell like much of anything. Usually I can just smell the sheets and the hospital gowns and they smell of detergent.