Can I wear long press on nails if I wear gloves during my whole shift?

HermioneG, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2017

In microbio we put my friend's acrylic nails under the microscope. She was so grossed out that shortly after she took them off and never wore them again haha.

OP, as others have said, you cannot wear fake nails and work in nursing! You'll have to decide which one you want more..

Wannabenurseneko · Nov 8, 2017

In microbio we put my friend's acrylic nails under the microscope. She was so grossed out that shortly after she took them off and never wore them again haha.
OP, as others have said, you cannot wear fake nails and work in nursing! You'll have to decide which one you want more..

This would get me to stop too

KrCmommy522, BSN, RN · Nov 9, 2017

For all anyone knows, this is a high school student that hasn't had any exposure to hospital nursing and hasn't even started pre-req classes. Calling it a dumb question or saying that it can't possibly be a real question isn't helpful. The OP may really not know. Its not a federal offense to ask.

Very good point! The old saying, "The only stupid question is the question not asked," comes to mind!

OP - As other posters have said, NO you cannot wear press on nails and NO not even if you wear your gloves all day! (1) They are a risk for infection, (2) you cannot wear gloves outside of patient rooms, and (3) if you want to work in the NICU you can to think about the fact that if you were wearing nails (or even had long nails that were your own) you could scratch/cut their thin, fragile skin, and they are at higher risk for infection!

Once you start nursing school you will have to have your nails cut down SHORT, and wear no nail polish. Well, at my school we were allowed nail polish but it had to be a very light neutral color (e.g., nude).

Good news is, you'll have days off and they are press on so you can just pop em on when you have days off and pop em off before you have to go back into work!

Cxrleen · Nov 10, 2017

Yes you're right. I'm only 15 and I don't know much about nursing. Thank you for being nice unlike the other responses.

Wuzzie · Nov 10, 2017

Yes you're right. I'm only 15 and I don't know much about nursing. Thank you for being nice unlike the other responses.

Had you let us know this important piece of information the answers would have been more gentle because we would have had a more accurate frame of reference. We talk to teenagers all the time and try to be encouraging.

Julius Seizure · Nov 11, 2017

Had you let us know this important piece of information the answers would have been more gentle because we would have had a more accurate frame of reference. We talk to teenagers all the time and try to be encouraging.

Unfortunately, this probably would have just led to responses saying that "you're only 15, just focus on finishing high school for now." There are always gonna be some helpful comments (like you!) and some not-so-helpful.

babychickens · Nov 11, 2017

I feel like this question is a joke. Really... a joke. Like someone else said, "even a non-nursing person could probably figure out the answer to the question". I can't take it seriously, which is why I don't even consider my response to be rude; just honest. It's like I'm 13 years old all over again, reading TEEN Magazine, and the article is a girl asking questions about boys or periods.

babychickens · Nov 11, 2017

Guess I should have read all the way to the end. Oops. Sorry OP. Glad you got some answers. **walking away with my cat-tail between my legs**

ohna · Nov 12, 2017

That's something you want to think through... Caring for delicate people, I think we will be always trimming our nails.A profession without pretty nails or keep your nails. Lol

Ben_Dover · Nov 13, 2017

Yes you're right. I'm only 15 and I don't know much about nursing. Thank you for being nice unlike the other responses.

Oh... I see, a 15 year old with long press-on nails. I'm sure you don't have to do any house chores such as washing dishes, laundry, and preparing meals especially with those nails. I'll be surprised if they'd even let you care for little kids! :woot:

My sisters would have been kicked out of our house by mom and pops if they've had long press-on nails at the age of 15, like seriously!!!

Guest123456788, MSN, RN · Nov 13, 2017

Oh... I see, a 15 year old with long press-on nails. I'm sure you don't have to do any house chores such as washing dishes, laundry, and preparing meals especially with those nails. I'll be surprised if they'd even let you care for little kids!
My sisters would have been kicked out of our house by mom and pops if they've had long press-on nails at the age of 15, like seriously!!!

You can do all of that with press on nails...sorry women are amazing and you're not as capable. Also if your parents would have kicked them out for nails but didn't kick you out for your demeaning attitude then they have their priorities backwards.

allnurses Guide · Nov 13, 2017

I think some of the replies can be attributed to the fact that it's an unusual question for someone with no exposure to nursing school or otherwise, and it's a notorious hot topic along with things like "should overweight people be allowed to be nurses?"

So, cxrleen hope that at least gives some context to you. Many of our fake nail threads contain links to information that in my opinion anyway, ought to shut down the argument, because they're based on the best available science-based evidence we have presently.

Here are some links some may find interesting, if you haven't studied it yet.

Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings-CDC

This one is older, but goes into great detail on other topics like hand sanitizers, lotions, hexachlorophene soaps, etc (I wanted proof good ol' soap & water was better than icky hand gel)

Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings-2002

The study that caused the controversy

A prolonged outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a neonatal intensive care unit: did staff fingernails play a role in disease transmission? - NCBI