False Nails (Does it promote infection?)

jewelsvu82 · Jun 23, 2002

about the nail issue.... (my parents have a nail shop)

i just think that it all depends on how long and clean anyone want their nails to be. but, nevertheless, it is better to have short and clear nails if one would want to put in artificial nails.

many of my parents' clients that are nurses tend to have short and managable nails and manicures to keep their nails clean and looking appropriate for sanitary purposes.

all in all, personally natural nails or artificial -- a thorough hand wash before handling a patient and having an experienced nail tech would be best.

so does nails promote infection? i think, yes. only because many nail techs who do not do the acrylic nail properly, then the natural nail bed can be infected with bacteria if water cracks through the artificial nails.

Whisper · Jun 23, 2002

Slightly off topic:

But... at the monet I am on a community mental health placement, so no clinical tasks or anything that would require gloves, I have been able to let my nails grow. I had forgoten that the end of your nails were meant to be white! I had got that used to chopping them off, but I am having great difficulty doing normal tasks such as typing and opening packets. They will be cut off as soon as posible, I am trying to keep them long for a family wedding.

I couldn't imagine having nails this length on a ward, I wouldn't be able to do anything, even if I got the time between washing my hands and nails.

BROWN_KK · Jul 25, 2002

:confused:

I have to say that I have had those "dreaded" nails

for the better part of 12 years. I wash my hands without fail. I am very, very picky about my nail operators and am almost crazy about any spaces opening between the overlay and my nail. I do not usually have tips on.......they are may nails underneath. And I keep them short and squared off. I also soak them off every four months and completely replace the overlay. Personally I think one should have the responsibility of their own hygiene. I choose nails instead of intricate jewelry which could easily harbor nasties. I also think you can tell who is a decent operator......and some peoples nails do not take well to the procedure. If they lift off frequently they are not for you. I do not intend to take them off unless forced or I decide they no longer are safe. Blanket statements about the cost or appearance are personal opinions and not relevant to the arguement.

Love-A-Nurse · Jul 25, 2002

originally posted by april0121
at the hospital where i work they have just recently come out with a policy to ban wearing fake nails. the reason that they did this was because there was an outbreak of seratia in the nicu that took a long time to contain. many of the babies got very sick.

wavey: and welcome. what a shame!

TheLionessRN, RN · Sep 16, 2002

I am not saying that all nurses who wear long fake nails are lazy, but, in my own personal experience on the floors, the nurses who had those long nails were the ones who did absolutely nothing more than the bare minimum in their care. I am blessed with healthy fingernails. I cannot stand to have them cut all the way down because they seem to pick up dirt faster when they are really short. I cannot imagine doing the work on the floor with nails that had to be protected or with nails that are so long my fingertips never touch anything.

ziggyRn · Sep 16, 2002

I'm a pain in the butt when I am a patient...no health worker with very long and/or fake nails touches me or my kids without gloves on...B/P whatever, I don't care.

Also get really crabby when a nurse,tech or Dr thinks they can touch me without washing their hands.

In fact I'm a nightmare patient...had a dressing done a few months back by a nurse with long hair hanging almost right in it, chewing gum too.

Went to the charge and complained. Zig.

Creampuff · Sep 18, 2002

I'm wearing them. I don't believe they are any more of a bacteria bed than your own natural nails, so as long as you are washing properly and gloving when necessary--it can't be a problem.

Heather333 · Sep 21, 2002

I work in NICU and we cannot wear artificial nails or even nail polish. No matter how often you wash your hands and wear gloves you cannot keep bacteria and fungus from getting in small cracks and lifts in the nail. I wore artificial nails before I was in nursing school and was very careful about keeping them clean. I still had problems with fungal infections and had to stop wearing them.

Just because your artifical nails look clean doesn't mean that they are. If you get some type of fungus or bacteria under there, there is no vascular supply to send any type of WBC's to try and take care of microorganisms. It's just a breeding ground for all kind of nasty germs.

Heather

mark_LD_RN · Sep 23, 2002

yes they do,one hospitaliworked athad a large outbreak of postpartum infections, infection control nursescame around and cultured everyone and everything it was tracked back to a coworker of mine in L&D who had fake nails,sothey are now banned from use at that hospital.:)

CaliNurse · Sep 23, 2002

I can remember the last semester of nursing school somehow I did get away with wearing my long candie apple red polish on artificail nails. I remember thinking that when I started working I would have $$$ to keep this up.

I can't remember when I stopped thinking about artificial nails but I have not worn them for about 13 years. I guess shortly after I started earning money for my services.

I now work as the DSD in a LTC unit in an acute hospital. Thats right I have the best of both worlds. I monitor all infection control for the LTC units and the epidemiologist handles the acute side.

Some pointers I would like to make -

Viruses, fungus, bacteria, etc is not visible to the naked eye. What make anyone think that because something looks clean that it is? Our hands "look" clean but we still wash them.

Secondly, What makes you think that gloves are 100% effective? If they were why do we wash our hands. Did you know that Non-latex gloves have a greater risk than latex gloves. Think about condoms ..... people use them and some do get pregnant! It is not 100% secure. Don't think that because you have gloves on you are 100% protected.

With the last point being made our patients are not 100% protected from us just because we have gloves on.

VRE

CaliNurse · Sep 23, 2002

I can remember the last semester of nursing school somehow I did get away with wearing my long candie apple red polish on artificail nails. I remember thinking that when I started working I would have $$$ to keep this up.

I can't remember when I stopped thinking about artificial nails but I have not worn them for about 13 years. I guess shortly after I started earning money for my services.

I now work as the DSD in a LTC unit in an acute hospital. Thats right I have the best of both worlds. I monitor all infection control for the LTC units and the epidemiologist handles the acute side.

Some pointers I would like to make -

Viruses, fungus, bacteria, etc is not visible to the naked eye. What make anyone think that because something looks clean that it is? Our hands "look" clean but we still wash them.

Secondly, What makes you think that gloves are 100% effective? If they were why do we wash our hands. Did you know that Non-latex gloves have a greater risk than latex gloves. Think about condoms ..... people use them and some do get pregnant! It is not 100% secure. Don't think that because you have gloves on you are 100% protected.

With the last point being made our patients are not 100% protected from us just because we have gloves on.

VRE lives 7 to 10 days on a hard surface ! I have never found the same statistic for MRSA, which is more common. There are infections being spread everyday in every hospital. Usually by one of us as a means of transmission. Either it is a piece of equipment or our hands.

I have seen some very strange pratices in the few years at my facility. Some days I am floored by what I see ( and I work at a good facility ), and some days I just say "Why am I surprised?"

LTC

CaliNurse · Sep 23, 2002

I can remember the last semester of nursing school somehow I did get away with wearing my long candie apple red polish on artificail nails. I remember thinking that when I started working I would have $$$ to keep this up.

I can't remember when I stopped thinking about artificial nails but I have not worn them for about 13 years. I guess shortly after I started earning money for my services.

I now work as the DSD in a LTC unit in an acute hospital. Thats right I have the best of both worlds. I monitor all infection control for the LTC units and the epidemiologist handles the acute side.

Some pointers I would like to make -

Viruses, fungus, bacteria, etc is not visible to the naked eye. What make anyone think that because something looks clean that it is? Our hands "look" clean but we still wash them.

Secondly, What makes you think that gloves are 100% effective? If they were why do we wash our hands? Did you know that Non-latex gloves have a greater risk than latex gloves. Think about condoms ..... people use them and some do get pregnant! It is not 100% secure. Don't think that because you have gloves on you are 100% protected.

With the last point being made our patients are not 100% protected from us just because we have gloves on.

VRE lives 7 to 10 days on a hard surface ! I have never found the same statistic for MRSA, which is more common. There are infections being spread everyday in every hospital. Usually by one of us as a means of transmission. Either it is a piece of equipment or our hands.

I have seen some very strange pratices in the few years at my facility. Some days I am floored by what I see ( and I work at a good facility ), and some days I just say "Why am I surprised?"

LTC has so many more regulations you would think that it would be an act of memory by now. During environmental rounds one day I found a cover jacket in a residents closet. When I asked who's it was I was surprised to find that it belong to a relatively new grad who just became a granmother. She lived in the same home as this new baby. I asked her if she really wanted to put her new grandbaby at risk because she was. To this day her infection control habits have not improved.

I usually find that new grads have better infection control techniques because it hasn't been that long since they were under the watchful eye of their instructor. Once someone goes into the fast paced skipping steps of infection control it is very difficult to break this habit.

Once I had to speak to a lab tech who came to the unit to draw monthly lab on about 15 patients. She went into 8 rooms before I said something to her. I wanted to give her room to hang herself.

She traveled room to room with the same pair of gloves on. Since then I have witnessed her 3 additional times. Her excuse is that she doesn't have enough time. She really doesn't know who I am but she knows that when I am there that she better follow the rules. I really hate for people to think that way because my goal is for them to get the theory behind what is required and not who is present to enforce the regulations.

I do love my job but some days when I am asked to cover the unit LTC or acute I really enjoy being just a nurse again. I also like being involved with infection control because I feel that I am still helping to improve the quality of their lives.

Enough of my babbling....... I will leave everyone with one last thought -

During your next shift watch 2 staff members that you admire wash their hands. You may be surprised at what you will see!

Good luck to us all and to the never ending crusade to stop the spread of infection.

Cali