Apple Watch

Nurses Uniform/Gear

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Just curious, do any nurses or CNAs have the Apple Watch or are thinking about getting it? Would your employer allow it?

:)

Ugh, I honestly didn't even think about this :/ when I was undressing a resident once, her watch slid across and tore her skin. I'm afraid of something like that happening again, I felt so guilty and it wasn't even my watch.

It doesn't seem like a big deal in the U.S.? All the shows I've seen shows nurses wearing long sleeve tops under their scrubs and wrist watches.

UK and Aus seem to have very strict "nothing below the elbows" policies.

Interesting!

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And hey, they can always swab it for MRSA!

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I have the Apple Watch Sport and I love it. Haven't decided if I will use it in clinicals yet. Can't imagine how I'd feel if it was ruined. And for the poster who mentioned battery life, Apple has severely UNDERSTATED the battery life, probably so that they wouldn't have a scandal like bendgate if it wound up not working properly. FWIW, my watch hasn't died on me yet and there's been 4 nights where I actually didn't charge it at all and it lasted through to the next night, so about 36 hours.

Edit - Also, I have not taken the watch off at all during the day, so its been through torrential rain, showers, excessive hand washing (I'm a bit paranoid) and swimming 3x/per week (1.5 hours each time)

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Specializes in ICU Stepdown.
It doesn't seem like a big deal in the U.S.? All the shows I've seen shows nurses wearing long sleeve tops under their scrubs and wrist watches.

UK and Aus seem to have very strict "nothing below the elbows" policies.

Interesting!

Haha yeah, I read somewhere you shouldn't wear long sleeves under your scrubs because it spreads bacteria? But it's acceptable everywhere I've known. Same with watches, except all the healthcare employees I know have wrist watches or no watch. I've never seen anyone with a lapel watch/clock.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.

$30 Timex for me from Target. It goes swimming in the pool and open water, I wear it in the shower, and the bands break far before the actual watch head does. Right now I have the velcro Expedition model and I love how easy it is to take care of compared to the buckle-type bands.

If I get body fluids on the watch, I can always dunk it in some cleaner or use Cavi-wipes on it with no ill effects.

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Why would you spend that much money on a watch for work? There can't be any way it's water proof.

Look up facts before you speak. It's waterproof.

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Haha yeah, I read somewhere you shouldn't wear long sleeves under your scrubs because it spreads bacteria? But it's acceptable everywhere I've known. Same with watches, except all the healthcare employees I know have wrist watches or no watch. I've never seen anyone with a lapel watch/clock.

I agree. I'm forced to wear long-sleeve shirts cause of my tattoos. It's a shame that I'm forced to predispose my patients to a microbial medium. I will just pull up my sleeves when I'm with a patient and I haven't gotten any negative feedback from anyone yet. At work I'm in a NICU, where the policy is covered tattoos, but all the charge nurses and managers don't really care because they'd rather me not infect infants who could die quick if infected. We don't even wear watches in the NICU for that reason.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Look up facts before you speak. It's waterproof.

Ok... Here:

Is the Apple Watch waterproof? | The iPhone FAQ

& Here

Apple Watch FAQ: Everything you need to know

It's not water PROOF. It's water RESISTANT.

Did YOU look up facts before you speak?

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I agree. I'm forced to wear long-sleeve shirts cause of my tattoos. It's a shame that I'm forced to predispose my patients to a microbial medium. I will just pull up my sleeves when I'm with a patient and I haven't gotten any negative feedback from anyone yet. At work I'm in a NICU, where the policy is covered tattoos, but all the charge nurses and managers don't really care because they'd rather me not infect infants who could die quick if infected. We don't even wear watches in the NICU for that reason.

I just shuddered at the thought of a NICU nurse wearing long sleeves! What are the managers thinking?

"We'll need you to wear long sleeve shirts to cover those tattoos, who cares if you give those immunocompromised babies a life threatening infection".

My friend works NICU and says they have to scrub for 3 minutes before they can even get into the unit!

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Specializes in hospice.
No. I don't follow hype and fads, for the most part. They might as well get it over with and just put the chip in your brain, already. It's coming.

There is an Arthur C. Clarke novel called The Light of Other Days that has this as an established part of life already. Fairly terrifying book, actually, but many of his are. Good read though.

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I just shuddered at the thought of a NICU nurse wearing long sleeves! What are the managers thinking?

"We'll need you to wear long sleeve shirts to cover those tattoos, who cares if you give those immunocompromised babies a life threatening infection".

My friend works NICU and says they have to scrub for 3 minutes before they can even get into the unit!

The policy is hospital-wide; the managers are required to tell me to obey the policy. However, it's overlooked due to what you mentioned, immunocompromised babies. We do a "surgical scrub" upon first entering; we have avagard if patient families don't want to do a lengthy hand washing (but I always encourage a wash with an actual scrub brush over the fingers and hands).

Edit: Forgot - glad to hear they require such a long scrub!

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Specializes in ICU Stepdown.

I've been wearing it at work the past three nights.

Pros:

-I can view messages on my wrist

-It's a watch

-It looks cool

-It has an activity feature that records my steps accurately and shows how many calories I burn

-It tells me my heart rate which I think is cool

Cons:

-It's black so it shows dead skin (from my residents) really easily

-There is a risk of getting BM on it, but of course this is normal with watches.

Since the watch is water resistant, I can (and have been) wash my hands without worrying. At the end of my shift I also clean it with alcohol wipes.

Would I say it is worth it? Ummm.... It's cool but it's more of a luxury now, especially since it's only workable with an iPhone. The activity feature is currently the only use I get out of it besides seeing the time and messages that come in. I don't regret spending the money on it but I know I look crazy to a lot of people.

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