Can nursing staff legally trim and file fingernails?

[klmb318]

Our nurse manager is requiring all of our unlicensed assistive personnel to document that "nail care" was done on each pt. This includes cleaning, trimming and filing. I thought I learned a long time ago that in the state of CA, nurses are not licensed to perform manicure or cosmetology services. Thus, as the RN responsible for all tasks delegated to the nurses assistants, am I (and they) going beyond our scope of practice? I cannot find anything on the internet about this topic.

Thanks-

Kathy

[BellsRNBSN]

In nursing school, we were taught that we could file patients' nails if necessary, but never trim them... Thus, I would think that cleaning and filing nails would be okay, but I wouldn't trim.

[SimplisticRnx]

If the patient is diabetic, leave the nail care to the experts cuz you don't wanna do damages to the patient. Yea we were taught also to file, but never clipped them.

[RN691]

I have worked in several states and have always been told that we are NEVER allowed to cut nails. Ask a doctor for an order for a podiatrist to see the pt. if the nails need to be cut. I would not delegate trimming or cutting nails to the PCT to protect myself. You can also ask to see the hospital policy that states nail cutting is allowed and who may delegate that task. If no policy exists I would refuse to cut nails unless I had a doctor order and knew the PCT was competent to do such a task.