Engagement/Wedding Ring Question

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

I just got engaged, but for now have a "stand in" ring so my fiance can save up and get me a "better" (read: more expensive -- it's what he wants and I'm fine with that lol) one. Well I've been looking, and I found one that is absolutely gorgeous, but it's morganite which some people say is too soft for a job such as nursing where you use your hands a lot. Opinions?

When my sweet husband and I got engaged we used an heirloom diamond that was my grandmother's engagement ring she left me in her will. I also have a beautiful colored stone ring of hers that I never take off. But of course neither were appropriate to wear for patient care areas. I couldn't bear the idea of leaving them at home and losing them if I got burgled or the house burned down, so I put a safety pin on the left strap of every one of my bras and pinned them on there, tucked in the top of the cup, when I got dressed for work. If I forgot, the pin was there when I got to work and remembered.

I always had my rings with me, and my patients were not at risk. You may work somewhere now where they allow engagement rings, but not everyplace does. You may also plan on getting "a desk job" when you graduate and become an RN, but that might not happen in a hurry either. A plan B might be a good idea.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

I was asking only â€‹about the specific stone, not about whether I should wear a ring to work or not...just if the stone I'm thinking about will be tough enough to handle work.

Whether or not your ring is "tough enough" is going to depend heavily on the type of job you are performing. Even a diamond can be ripped from it's setting and a small chip note

d to the setting.

Historically....diamond ring noted s are not allowed due to the high potential of harm (scratching) of the patient's skin. There is also the danger of losing your gemstone by snagging your setting on the bed frame of desk/drawer/boxes etc and losing your diamond/emeralds etc.....Just because your school allows the wearing of rings with bling does not mean that your facility will allow the wearing of elaborate bling.

It appears to me that your mind is made up....however nurses with far more experience are trying to warn you that your plans may not be realistic. Please try to understand that it is only with good intentions that this information is shared with you.

For me personally I have only worn a simple band with stones at times

cardiacfreak, ADN · Jul 15, 2015

My hands shrink and swell depending on the season, thus I have lost 3, yes 3, sets of wedding rings over the last 28 years. I now wear a cheap 10 carat slim wedding band. Hubby says the next one comes from the bubblegum machine. :sorry:

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jul 15, 2015

My hands shrink and swell depending on the season, thus I have lost 3, yes 3, sets of wedding rings over the last 28 years. I now wear a cheap 10 carat slim wedding band. Hubby says the next one comes from the bubblegum machine.

YIKES! That's it! The rings stay home & in the box!

AlphaM · Jul 15, 2015

Too funny

Sadly true lmao!!!!

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jul 16, 2015

Our whole hospital is nothing below the elbows. Many wear their rings on a necklace. When we first instituted this several girls in the unit had to go have their rings cut off. I would have cried.

0.adamantite · Jul 16, 2015

I have a CZ ring but nobody knows the difference. I can get it replaced whenever I want for free at the jeweler so it looks brand new. We were able to afford a much more expensive setting ($4k) with the centerstone .5 carat CZ (which was free). Eventually my partner will replace it with a real diamond, or maybe not.

On topic, I think wearing rings at work is gross. There is no way to clean the germs from all those nooks and crannies. I also think that the alcohol hand foam can eventually damage the metal. Although all of my jewerely is insured, I fear loosing it or damaging it or loosing a stone at work. So therefore, I save myself the trouble and leave my rings safe at home. Or I've heard of wearing them on a chain around your check, however I have been strangled by my shirt collar at work by a patient and wouldn't fancy wearing a necklace for that same reason.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 16, 2015

Not so long ago I had to care for a sweet LOL who happened to "find" a good size precious stone in her day bed (apparently, fallen from a piece of jewelry her home health care worker was wearing), thought it was a candy or something and swallowed it. The stone was quite large with piece of possibly sharp metal still attached to it, it was seen on Xray, moved in lower small bowel and got stuck there. The poor lady got opened up to retrieve it and relieve partial obstruction it caused and hardly made it after months in hospitals.

Oh for crying out loud. I'm SURE this happens weekly at hospitals all around the country -- NOT! It could just as easily been a stray needle (I find those in beds all the time), a cockroach or the stem off the health care worker's watch. Or are you also advocating not wearing watches? WAIT! It could have been a button off the health care worker's uniform -- or are you advocating no buttons on uniforms? It could have been a button off the sweet old lady's pajamas. It could have been a piece of plaster that fell off the ceiling or . . . .

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 16, 2015

Am I the only one here that wears my actual wedding ring plus band to work?
All the nurses on my unit do. Mine is an onyx and I love it. The only thing I asked my hubby was to make sure it wasn't too tall. I perform sterile procedures and wear chemo gloves and not once have I ripped either one. I've held down kids for procedure and have never scratched a patient either.
I wash my hands more than use the foam so the only issue I've had is soap buildup underneath the stone itself. Once a week cleaning solves that problem though.

No, you're not the only one. I wear my actual wedding ring to work, and if I had an engagement ring, I'd wear that, too. Most of the nurses I work with do the same. Most of the nurses I have worked with over the past forty years wore their rings to work. It seems to be a rather new fad no decry the wearing of rings as a serious hazard.

And for those who wouldn't wear their rings because of the risk of damaging or losing their ring or their stone at work, exactly where CAN you wear it that it will be absolutely 100% safe? Oh, I know . . . let's leave it in the safety deposit box.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 16, 2015

It's a pretty gemstone that comes in like a light pink-peach color to green. I remember looking at a ring with the light pink morganite, and it was ~ $2K.
This is just me, but if I were getting engaged, I would just get one ring, and get a ring that was pretty but modest, then put the money that would have gone to a pricier ring toward a down payment on a house. I like old/vintage rings; new rings don't ring my chimes. Even the ones that are styled to look like vintage rings don't do it for me.

Ah, and you're entitled to your choice. Just as the OP is entitled to chose the pretty pink morganite. And my colleague was entitled to spend $40,000 on her wedding . . . .

I think $40,000 for a wedding is absolutely nuts. But the ring -- I cherish mine, years and years later. I have the house, too, but it's probably not as big or fancy as the one you could have gotten with a $40,000 down payment!

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jul 16, 2015

No, you're not the only one. I wear my actual wedding ring to work, and if I had an engagement ring, I'd wear that, too. Most of the nurses I work with do the same. Most of the nurses I have worked with over the past forty years wore their rings to work. It seems to be a rather new fad no decry the wearing of rings as a serious hazard.
And for those who wouldn't wear their rings because of the risk of damaging or losing their ring or their stone at work, exactly where CAN you wear it that it will be absolutely 100% safe? Oh, I know . . . let's leave it in the safety deposit box.

Well that's where I plan on leaving it. Not only do I not want to lose it, I don't want to bring germs home & for where I plan on working it's not practical (in corrections). If I was going to work in the hospital I'd consider wearing a band but I want the inmates to know as little about me as possible.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 16, 2015

I work as a floor nurse. I wear a little band while at work and then have my "pretty" ring at home that I wear in my personal time. I saw you are doing office work which would probably be OK. But if you intend on doing patient care, wear a very modest ring that you wouldn't mind gettting messed up or even lost.

If the ring is good quality and the poster gets the prongs checked regularly, patient care isn't going to damage the ring. Breaking up rocks with a sledgehammer might, but patient care won't.