[CeCiRN]

Originally Posted by NannaNurse

We have some nurses/techs where I work that still have the fake nails, even tho' notices have been posted for over a year now. No 'nail' police as yet. Some of you already know my situation....unit currently looking for yet another manager/director since May, so no 'Mom' on the unit to 'police' the area.
It is not just a 'patient' thing here, this is a new regulation handed down from OSHA and JCAHO. Why would you want to bring home all the potential 'bugs' to you and your family?? Gloves or no gloves, germs can get into those small tiny spots and stay there. What if you got an infection between the fake nail and your nail..............uuurrggghhhh!! I can't imagine how disgusting that would be!!!
Think about the patients too. Some of them have skin that is paper thin and you could really 'slice' them up!
I think the fake nails, when kept up, are pretty......but not on a nurse/tech in direct patient care.
The ones where I work are directly defying the regs......it wouldn't bother me to start handing out fines!!

I'm one of these people who has her nails done every two weeks, but last year while I was working OB we got the word and I did do away with my acrylics. Now that I'm not longer in the clinical area and doing case management for Medicaid, I started getting my nails done again. It's true that I was very disappointed that I had to quit getting them done because I loved to get all the nail designs but they really do not have a place in pt care.

[tiff82]

I have worn acrylic nails since I was 15 and now I am 22 and I always thought that real nails scratched worse and easier than fake nails. I agree with everyone about hygiene but as long as your nails are a short length I don't see anything wrong with wearing acrylics. You can't really get that bad of a scratch from acrylic which is rounded plastic! If a hospital I worked at told me I had to take them off then I would but other than that I would keep them clean and at a reasonable length.

[fergus51]

Originally Posted by tiff82

I have worn acrylic nails since I was 15 and now I am 22 and I always thought that real nails scratched worse and easier than fake nails. I agree with everyone about hygiene but as long as your nails are a short length I don't see anything wrong with wearing acrylics. You can't really get that bad of a scratch from acrylic which is rounded plastic! If a hospital I worked at told me I had to take them off then I would but other than that I would keep them clean and at a reasonable length.

Did you read the links provided? It isn't about hygeine or handwashing or even scratching. Acrylic nails support the growth of certain pathogens to an extent that real nails don't. They can look as clean as can be, they aren't. Simple as that.

If nurses don't follow basic infection control practices, there is a real problem out there. Our units don't allow fake nails, long nails, nail polish, rings or watches.

[adrienurse]

it's your job, take it or leave it. Sorry, you have no sympathy from me. Safety over fashion. All my nails are cut and filed shorter than the tips of my fingers and that's the way they stay.

[mac23]

:hatparty:

[adrienurse]

parents and visitors you can't force. Nurses on the other hand aught to listen to reason and have to follow safety regulations

[Marie_LPN, RN]

I have clean, short, natural fingernails. It is required for my job, and i have no qualms about complying with it, because it's common sense that anything on them can be a digital petrie dish.

It astounds me how people can defends the right to wear the overlays, etc.

Whenever i am a pt., if anyone comes near me with long and/or fake nails, they will be asked to leave. If that's offensive, too bad, i am protecting myself.

[hoolahan]

Originally Posted by RN2B2009

There is a student thread floating around about "What You'd Give Up To Be A Nurse". Even though I went to aethetics academy, owned my own business, made women's nails beautiful for 6 years and wore gel nails myself for just as long ... I would give them up in heartbeat!

Nursing is all about the patient, not about how good I look doing it (course, I'm not there yet ... but I've already cut my nails in anticipation!). I'm seriously shocked that this is even an issue for some ...

Maybe when you have actually been a nurse for 23 years, like me, you may understand the issue. I am also a licensed nail tech. After 23 years, it isn't so much the nail issue, it's the "last straw" issue. If I could afford to be strictly a nail tech, I would leave nursing in a heartbeat. I am a person/mother/family member FIRST and a nurse second. My nails are in the cruddy condition they were from years of such frequent hand-washing with harsh hibiclens soaps in ICU's.

I REALLY RESENT people ***-u-ming that because a person enjoys having thier nails look nice they don't care about their patient's. How DARE anyone here presume that I don't care for my patient's!!! And it was also ***-umed that those who have fake nails are long, mine aren't long, they are just strong, and I get less hangnails and infections from the dry nails/skin/cuticles. I do not get my nails done so I can show them off at work for Heaven's sake. Not everyone is so shallow as some of you super-nurses presume!

BTW, if you don't want me to take care of you, FINE!!! Your loss, not mine!

[earle58]

hoolihan,

i am not assuming you're tired, but you SOUND like you need a vacation from nsg.

and even if it's not you personally, i have seen plenty of nsg staff whose nails are extremely long and coiffed....never mind the risk of carrying/spreading infection but how in heck can they effectively do their job??? if you perceive some as 'super nurses' then it's unfortunate you're feeling so defensive. but when various studies conclude that acrylics are risky, there's not much to argue.

i do hope you're feeling more at peace.

leslie

[HyperRNRachel]

Well, I choose my overlays. The day my home health agency tells me we can't have them, it will be the last clinical shift I work. I am FT now with an insurance company, and per diem HH.

Glad you have your priorities straight......hmmmm, fashion or providing good health care????

I know I want a nurse whose main concern is how good she looks.....I can always be given a little ole antibiotic for a simple little MRSA infection. Fight the good fight! Maybe you can bring back smoking while providing care. And while you are at it...hand washing and gloves...do we really need that ????