Will nursing wreck my hands?

vampiregirl, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2017

Lastly, when you go to bed put Vaseline or your desired cream on (thicker the better) then where cotton gloves.

Thick cotton socks on your hands also work great!

As much as I love to use yummy smelling lotions at home, I've found that high quality lotions with no added scent or colors tend to work best for me. I also use non-antibacterial soap at home.

Caring for your hands/ cuticles in health care is so important. If you don't care for them, it puts you at increased infection risk as non-intact skin is a portal for germs/ bacteria/ fungus to enter.

Burts bees is my current favorite cuticle treatment, but there are several other options out there. I tend to rotate "favorites":) Sometimes it has to do with which good quality product is on sale when I am running low!

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 28, 2017

No it just gets your back, knees, soul, spirit, faith in humanity, shoulders, neck...but my hands are silky smooth!

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Feb 28, 2017

es it's hard on your hands, especially in winter. But it's even harder on your back, shoulders, body and your mental health! It is very stressful and can be anxiety provoking and overwhelming at times! If you are concerned about how your hands are going to hack it, I don't think you are cut out for nursing. That is such a little thing among all the many other negatives and at least it is treatable with lotions. Don't take this personally, because truthfully I think very few people can work as floor nurses and still preserve their sanity and their backs. I don't recommend it to anybody!

We are continuously short staffed, overworked, pressured to pick up overtime because they refuse to hire enough nurses, which leads to even more turnover and more pressure on the few remaining! My family doesn't understand why I don't work overtime, they have no clue what it's like. Honestly I feel I have PTSD from all I've dealt with and been thru as a nurse over the years. I used to work overtime, but that was 15 years ago when I was younger in my thirties. Also the patients were easier to deal with back then, most spoke english, it was rare to have a morbidly obese patient and now it is practically a daily occurence of 300-500 pounds and throw in the foley free movement and you have a recipe for disaster and injury! Also many more psyche patients, dementia, alcohol drug withdrawal etc. There is just no way I can bring myself to work overtime and I'm just saving all my money so I can make it to an early retirement. Aside from the increased patient acuity corporate healthcare admin just keeps cutting our resources, raising our staffing ratios. I honestly don't know why anybody would want to be a nurse and I don't recommend it!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 28, 2017

Hi!
This may seem like a strange question, but as I am waiting to find out if I made it into nursing school I am wondering if nursing is hard on your hands? Does all the hand washing and glove wearing wreck them? In the winter my cuticles can sometimes crack and bleed, and I just wash my hands the usual amount (before and after cooking, after restroom), so I wondered if that is an issue for anyone, and if so, what you do about it. Has anyone dropped out of nursing because their hands couldn't hack it?

Washing your hands 50 times a day is hard on your hands. Use lotion. Lots and lots of lotion.

Paulini · Feb 28, 2017

I don't think it's fair to say that she's not cut out to be a nurse because she worries about her hands. I am a nurse and I love it, but I do worry about my hands.

I suffer from contact dermatitis on my hands and while it's currently under control I'm never sure what will cause a flare up. If it reutrned to being as bad as it was a couple of years ago, I'd have to quit hands-on nursing. Contact dermatitis can be developed at any point in life and I imagine working in the medical field is a contributing factor.

jennylee321 · Feb 28, 2017

Thank you for this í ½í¹Œí ¼í¿½

this is exactly right, contact dermatitis and eczema on your hands can be so bad that you have to leave the bedside. It's a serious thing and we should all be using any preventative measures we can to keep our hands healthy. People without skin problems may not understand what a big deal it is but they would if it interfered with their livelihood !

TriciaJ, RN · Feb 28, 2017

My hands don't seem to mind frequent hand-washing too much; it's the hand sanitizers that really do a number on them. I'm old school, so I only wear gloves for certain things, not everything. Someone gave good advice about keeping cuticles neat. Hand-washing tests (involving some sort of substance and a black light) show most of what gets left behind is in the cuticles.

Have you tried a sugar scrub? It's not convenient to carry around in your pocket but might help to have some at home. In a jar, mix sugar and oil (like sesame, but probably anything works), you can add some essential oil for scent. Rub some on your dry hands and massage your hands together like you're washing them. Then rinse off the sugar and oil mixture. Hands are silky smooth with no greasy residue. Crabtree and Evelyn sells a similar product but very expensive.

Wolf at the Door, BSN · Feb 28, 2017

No nurse can get a side job as a hand model.

emmjayy, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2017

OP, use L'Occitane's original scent shea butter hand cream. It's $28 for a full size tube last I checked, but it literally lasts for months and will save your hands. I have the same problem as you with my hands cracking and bleeding and this stuff keeps my skin soooooo hydrated and smooth. It's a really really thick cream that absorbs right in without being greasy.

Extra Pickles · Feb 28, 2017

I don't think it's fair to say that she's not cut out to be a nurse because she worries about her hands.

I never said that. I DID say in response to her question "has anyone ever dropped out of nursing school because of this" that if this was the reason someone wanted to drop nursing school, that maybe nursing wasn't going to work out for them, which is VERY true.

I also told her to carry a tube of moisturizer in her pocket to address the issue, which answered her question as well.

Extra Pickles · Feb 28, 2017

No it just gets your back, knees, soul, spirit, faith in humanity, shoulders, neck...but my hands are silky smooth!

lol so true! Except that my hands aren't silky smooth either!

BookishBelle · Feb 28, 2017

My hands don't seem to mind frequent hand-washing too much; it's the hand sanitizers that really do a number on them. I'm old school, so I only wear gloves for certain things, not everything. Someone gave good advice about keeping cuticles neat. Hand-washing tests (involving some sort of substance and a black light) show most of what gets left behind is in the cuticles.
Have you tried a sugar scrub? It's not convenient to carry around in your pocket but might help to have some at home. In a jar, mix sugar and oil (like sesame, but probably anything works), you can add some essential oil for scent. Rub some on your dry hands and massage your hands together like you're washing them. Then rinse off the sugar and oil mixture. Hands are silky smooth with no greasy residue. Crabtree and Evelyn sells a similar product but very expensive.

Thank you for that idea! A friend made me some scrub and I haven't even tried it yet- afraid the friction might make it worse, but I should give it a go!