we cannot have acrylic fingernails

[jh56031]

This is my first post on allnurses, and I wasnt sure where to ask this question...Hopefully I dont make anyone mad if its in the wrong spot!

I am a student and at my school we cannot have acrylic fingernails (I feel like this is standard in nursing schools). One of my peers is taking it hard that she had to take hers off when school started. She states that once she graduates, passes the NCLEX and secures a job that she will get her nails back. I feel like getting her nails back is what is keeping her in nursing school.

I was wondering if current nurses could shed some light to me, so maybe I can pass some info along to her or I can just make her stop talking about it because I hear about it on a daily basis.

Thanks

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

I love how some of the doctors get away with it.

[RKRobbins]

OMG! NAILS!?! This is her concern?!

WOW...I wish I had her brain power....shes not the least bit worried about tests or clinic or pharm or crazy instructors! I'm jealous! and here I thought I was vain b/c I can't wait to get of school scrubs and into nurse scrubs!

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

Hey! Steady on. I'd like to have had nice nails too and I am not the least bit vapid.

All that ETOH gel and hand washing destroyed my hands including nails. Just wait til they realize what lurks in splitting peeling nails. Infection control will do a poop of the first order...LOL

[Lifeofanurse]

Oh lord have mercy! If this girl is worried about her daggum nails over everything else, she AIN'T gonna make it! And no, you cannot have acrylic nails when practicing nursing.

I agree. If she's talking about her nails daily she's got issues. She's going to be a problem child...you know what I mean...just wait and see. I would distance myself from her and her issues if I were you. In nursing school you are judged by the company you keep!!!!!

[Lifeofanurse]

I see a trend. Those already in nursing or nursing school understand how quickly and easily c. diff and MRSA can begin with ONE patient and you come back a week later and the entire FLOOR has it.... poor hand hygiene is often the culprit. Another if nurses who don't clean 'their area' begining of every shift.

I don't think it's the polish that's the issue but the length and the extra space to harbor germs/bacteria.

I've been working in a great hospital for clinicals and they have recently implimented some pretty strict policies about using sanitizing wipes on anything and everything you as the nurse will touch or has been touched during the previous shift by the outgoing nurse or techs. Since we've been there we've noticed unofficially a reduction in cross contamination of MRSA. I even wipe down my binder before I start and before I leave. I've been known to wipe my shoes too!

[Poi Dog]

I've been known to wipe my shoes too!

I wipe down my shoes with the Sani cloth wipes at the end of shift.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

I wipe down my shoes with the Sani cloth wipes at the end of shift.

OMG me too. Especially after the ER.

[ErinRN2B]

I miss being able to get pink-and-white solar nails, but it's not nearly a big enough reason for me to think about leaving nursing school! That's ridiculous. Like others have said, I just lavish more attention on my toenails now.

[SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP]

This is what I think of every time I see someone break the nail policy.

http://www.usask.ca/nursing/docs/news/risky_business_spring2007.pdf

Nails & Rings & all those Things

Outbreak with P.aeruginosa in a NICU

Probable source: Artificial or Long Fingernails

• Of 439 neonates during a 15 month period, 46 (10.5%) acquired P. aeruginosa;

16 (35%) died.

• 3/100 HCWs hand cultures were positive for P.aeruginosa

• All had long-or artificial fingernails

• Intervention: Shorten fingernails, remove artificial fingernails, and enforce hand washing

(Moolenaar R. L. Infect.Control Hosp.Epidemiol. 21 (2):80-85, 2000.)

Freshly applied nail polish does not increase the number of bacteria around the nails, but chipped nail polish & polish more than 4 days old supports larger numbers of bacteria. Several studies show that skin underneath rings is more heavily colonized with organisms than skin on fingers without rings. One study showed that some nurses carried the same organisms under their rings for months and that the number of organisms correlates with the number of rings worn.

Recommendations from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Association of periOperative Nurses and others all state: Do not wear artificial fingernails when having contact with patients

ts.

The Bottom Line: All healthcare workers (physicians, nurses, housekeepers, food preparers, sterile supplies handlers)

with a direct link to patient care must give patient safety top priority, keep nails natural, clean and short.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200009073431004

[ErinRN2B]

Regarding the above article... I always keep my wedding band on during clinicals. It's just a simple gold band with some engravings, but no gemstones or settings. Should I be taking it off before I go to clinical? It specifically says in our program guidebook that we are allowed to wear wedding bands without gem settings. I hardly ever take my wedding band off, and I'm terrified that I would somehow lose it.

[SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP]

" keep nails natural, clean and short and leave all rings except a plain band at home"

Leave you wedding band on :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

"regarding the above article... i always keep my wedding band on during clinicals. it's just a simple gold band with some engravings, but no gemstones or settings. should i be taking it off before i go to clinical? it specifically says in our program guidebook that we are allowed to wear wedding bands without gem settings. i hardly ever take my wedding band off, and i'm terrified that i would somehow lose it."

i wear an antique ring of my great-grandmother's that i cherish, and we used my grandmother's engagement diamond when we became engaged. every day when i got dressed for hospital work i took them off and pinned them to my bra, tucking them inside the cup for extra security (all my bras had safety pins on the left strap;)). i did it mostly because it would have killed me to lose them if my house had burnt down or been burgled, but the infection control thing did cross my mind. besides.... carrying buggies home under my rings (for months, said that study?), stopping by daycare, then i had to make dinner? the idea sorta grossed me out.