Do you wear rings on your fingers to work?

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When I bought my wedding ring, I had the jeweler make it special and brought the diamond down to the level of the ring in order to avoid catching it on side rails or scratching my patients. However, I did scratch one with it and had to fill out an incident report etc...but that was during primary care. I still wear it, but am really careful. Also, I used to rub down the tx and med cart with bleach water and I guess bleach and diamonds aren't supposed to mix....according to the jeweler anyway. How many others here wear their rings to work or is it not allowed?

Blessings, Michelle

In the meantime I am going to continue to be concerned with docs that don't wear gloves at all, and techs that think it is ok to insert a foley into the lady parts of a patient and then into their bladder.

So, since everyone else is doing so bad, we don't need to worry about improving ourselves? Because stethoscopes also appear to harbor bacteria, we don't have to worry about rings?

I agree that at some point we can get too hyperactive about cleanliness--but I don't think that applies to hands. We need stethoscopes, so we need to be working on keeping them clean. We do *not* need to wear our rings to perform our job.

The same arguments can be used for watches and long nails. *I* keep my long nails/fake nails clean--why can't I have them? Because they've been proven in the general nursing population to harbor more bacteria and are a danger to the pt. We touch so many people and objects every day at work with our hands.

If the rings are so valuable to you, why would you risk damaging or losing them? If you slide your ring every time you wash, eventually you are going to slip it all the way off and it will fall into the sink or on the floor. If it is fairly easy to remove, at some point you are going to take it off in a glove and then spend your time digging through disgusting trash in an attempt to find it.

I've seen some nurses pin them to their scrubs with a fancy pin or a plain safety pin, others wear them on a chain around their neck (I wouldn't do that, either, I'd be scared to lose them), or leave them at home. All wedding rings are symbols of love; but you don't stop loving your spouse just because you don't wear your wedding ring for safety purposes. The necklace and pendant that my daughters gave me is symbolic of our love; but I don't wear it to work for fear of losing it. They don't think I love them any less because of it.

Want a symbol of love that is permanent and won't potentially hurt your pts? Get his name tattooed on your body. I have a lovely design that includes my husband and children's names. My husband's name is intertwined with two wedding rings. So I guess I *do* have rings that don't ever come off, but they aren't going to scratch my pts or spread bacteria.

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From the second article tait posted:

"The nurses wearing rings had more Gram-positive, Gram-negative and total bacterial colonization on their hands than the nurses without rings despite using an alcohol-based rub (p=0.001). When comparing the two groups with rings (plain wedding rings and rings with stones), colony counts of Gram-positive, Gram-negative and total bacteria did not differ (p>0.05).

Conclusions

Ring wearing increases the bacterial colonization of hands and alcohol-based hand disinfection might not significantly reduce contamination of the ring-wearing hands. The type of ring did not cause any significant difference on the bacterial load. Wearing rings could increase the frequency of transmission of potential nosocomial pathogens."

From the CDC website:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htm

"Several studies have demonstrated that skin underneath rings is more heavily colonized than comparable areas of skin on fingers without rings (374--376). One study found that 40% of nurses harbored gram-negative bacilli (e.g., E. cloacae, Klebsiella, and Acinetobacter) on skin under rings and that certain nurses carried the same organism under their rings for several months (375). In a more recent study involving >60 intensive care unit nurses, multivariable analysis revealed that rings were the only substantial risk factor for carriage of gram-negative bacilli and S. aureus and that the concentration of organisms recovered correlated with the number of rings worn (377). Whether the wearing of rings results in greater transmission of pathogens is unknown. Two studies determined that mean bacterial colony counts on hands after handwashing were similar among persons wearing rings and those not wearing rings (376,378). Further studies are needed to establish if wearing rings results in greater transmission of pathogens in health-care settings."

Why take the risk?

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Specializes in Nursing Student.
So, since everyone else is doing so bad, we don't need to worry about improving ourselves? Because stethoscopes also appear to harbor bacteria, we don't have to worry about rings?

I agree that at some point we can get too hyperactive about cleanliness--but I don't think that applies to hands. We need stethoscopes, so we need to be working on keeping them clean. We do *not* need to wear our rings to perform our job.

The same arguments can be used for watches and long nails. *I* keep my long nails/fake nails clean--why can't I have them? Because they've been proven in the general nursing population to harbor more bacteria and are a danger to the pt. We touch so many people and objects every day at work with our hands.

If the rings are so valuable to you, why would you risk damaging or losing them? If you slide your ring every time you wash, eventually you are going to slip it all the way off and it will fall into the sink or on the floor. If it is fairly easy to remove, at some point you are going to take it off in a glove and then spend your time digging through disgusting trash in an attempt to find it.

I've seen some nurses pin them to their scrubs with a fancy pin or a plain safety pin, others wear them on a chain around their neck (I wouldn't do that, either, I'd be scared to lose them), or leave them at home. All wedding rings are symbols of love; but you don't stop loving your spouse just because you don't wear your wedding ring for safety purposes. The necklace and pendant that my daughters gave me is symbolic of our love; but I don't wear it to work for fear of losing it. They don't think I love them any less because of it.

Want a symbol of love that is permanent and won't potentially hurt your pts? Get his name tattooed on your body. I have a lovely design that includes my husband and children's names. My husband's name is intertwined with two wedding rings. So I guess I *do* have rings that don't ever come off, but they aren't going to scratch my pts or spread bacteria.

While I respect your point of view on this, not everybody likes tattooes, and some people just want to wear their rings. I see both sides. I understand the fear of losing it, scratching somebody, or the cleanliness factor.

On the other hand, my mother gave me her Lindy Star ring when I was thirteen. I haven't taken it off since, and that's been six years ago. My grandmother loved this ring, she recently passed away in August, and now more than ever it helps me feel more connected to her and my mom. So sometimes it's personal and sentimental reasons why some don't take them off. Everyone here that's stated they wear seem to take proper precautions.

Not trying to be rude, just trying to let you see the other side. :nuke:

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At our hospital, no hand/wrist jewelry is allowed at all. No rings, watches, or bracelets allowed.

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Specializes in LTC/ rehab/ dialysis.

I don't wear my wedding/engagement or any other rings to work. I did for while..... Just choose not to now. Doesn't mean I love my husband any less. Just feel it's safer for me and my patients. Personal choice.

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Specializes in OB, NICU, Nursing Education (academic).

No.....but then, I don't know any NICU nurse (current or former) who would.

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I used to wear my wedding ring (a channel-set band with sapphires and diamonds) when I was an aide; after about 6 mths the skin under the band became badly macerated and infected because of all the constant handwashing - and, IMO, the alcohol-based rubs irritated it to no end. The skin never had a chance to fully dry. The infection became systemic, I developed impetigo, and still have problems to this day with dyshidrotic eczema all over my hands.

So no, I don't wear my rings at work. Wish I could, I love my wedding rings.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

When i was married and worked in a hospital as a tech i used to wear a plain silver wedding band with smooth edges. I would take it off to wash my hands and the ring dry them and put my ring back on

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I used to wear them but don't anymore. Once a confused patient squeezed my hand with the wedding ring on so hard that it hurt the fingers either side of it so much I just thought That's it. Also I think hand sanitizer used to get stuck underneath it and sometimes I'd get peeling skin on that finger.

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After losing my engagement ring once (and getting it back, thank God and the pt that turned it in) I don't wear it to work anymore. However, as my hospital policy allows it and virtually every married nurse I work with wears his/hers, I still wear my flat wedding band. It doesn't catch on anything and fits a little tighter than my diamond, and it can't scratch a pt or cut through a glove. Yes I wash underneath it regularly, and I haven't had a problem yet with my skin breaking down.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

i don't take my wedding ring off. last time i took it off was two years ago when i had surgery, and it didn't want to come off. i suspect it wouldn't want to come off now, either. removing my ring wouldn't make me any less married, but it isn't something i wish to do. dh and a former patient of ours who makes jewelry for a living designed my ring so that the stone is channel-set and protected on all sides by gold -- couldn't possibly scratch anyone. i'm too middle-class, middle-aged and midwestern to believe that a tattoo (especially on me or dh) could be tasteful or attractive, so i'll keep my ring.

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Yep, I wear my wedding band, and on my other hand, I wear a ring that my wonderful husband had made for me to simulate the one my Momma had given me when I was 16 and lost (like a fool).

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