When social anthropologist Hanna Marie Ihlebæk interviewed nurses at a Norwegian cancer ward for her PhD dissertation, she was surprised to learn that many of them relied on their sense of smell in their work. “Urine infection is really distinct, I can recognize that smell in the corridor!” one of the nurses said. Another claimed to be able to pick out digestive bleeding and cell necrosis. “I don’t know what I would have done without my ability to smell,” said a third.
