Fake Nails

Published

I was talking to a friend of mine that is a LPN in LTC and she asked me if I wanted to go to get my nails done and I told her I couldn't because of school and she then sort of snickered and said that its was silly that they dont allow you to have them in school because every nurse she knows has them:icon_roll

I was just curious if you have them or the other nurses in your unit do.

TIA :)

Beachbutterfly, I understand the reason for not having artificial nails and hair not kept up and away from the face. But I don't understand why walking into a store with your scrubs on, is as you stated a "no no." Is that a regional or facility thing that a nurse isn't supposed to do? Walking into a drinking establishment with scrubs on is definitely a no no in my book, but now got me curious about going into a store.

Bacteria.

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Specializes in med surg ltc psych.

Okay. I was thinking of the nurses that got off shift and stopped by the store to pick up dinner and went home and throw their scrubs in the wash. Not thinking that someone would be going into stores and then back to patients. Thanks for the answer.

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Specializes in IMCU.
I have to say that this post hit home. I happen to know someone who is a nurse, and has been for over 10 years. This person and I are, at the very most, acquaintances (she's my hubby's ex-wife). I've seen her just before she leaves for work, in the middle of being at work and after work. She wears her hair down most of the time, has fake nails, and wears enough perfume to choke a person. I don't quite understand how it is that she continues to work in various facilities without anyone saying anything to her. She's very neat in her appearance, uniforms are clean & unwrinkled and it's not as if her hair looks messy, it's just, well, down....I would NEVER want to wear my hair down...God forbid I should accidentally have my hair hit something gross.....oh gag!

For those of you working in facilities already, do you have people who get sent home for things like hair, nails, perfume??

I will never understand why some people get away with stuff.

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I will never understand why some people get away with stuff.

Me either. I just re-read some of the posts about the scrubs being worn to the store, etc. I also think that this is a no-no. You are taking care of folks who are ill, they have all kinds of gross stuff coming out of them (at a minimum germs & bacteria) and then you go somewhere wearing your scrubs that have all of these things on them. It just bothers me. If I need to go someplace after work, I'll bring other clothes to change into.

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Okay. I was thinking of the nurses that got off shift and stopped by the store to pick up dinner and went home and throw their scrubs in the wash. Not thinking that someone would be going into stores and then back to patients. Thanks for the answer.

Ok I dont know if you are a nursing student or what,but when I was in Nursing school the instructors always stressed the importance of maintaing microbe-free envinronment and this included change from your scrubs into the street cloths (yes in the hospital) after you punch out,scrubs shouldnt be wore outside the hospital envinronment period,unless they are brand new washed and you are ready to take off to you work!!! And I dont mean only avoiding shopping in scrubs but also dont bring the bacteria home to your family,also I think in the hospital cafeteria anyone included in the direct patient care should be wearing a lab coat...sorry I'm not a germophobe but I was trained with this mindset.

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Specializes in med surg ltc psych.

Well, I'm a new grad nurse and it's been a while since someone really pointed this out to me. You are right in every way about harboring nasty microbes and cross contamination. Two things that stand out to me. Every aspect of strict reduction in cross contamination was taught to us in NS, except for some reason wearing your scrubs into stores wasn't stressed and now I wonder why it wasn't? The other is that I have lived in three different states; Cali, Michigan, and Louisiana. And in each I have seen nurses go into grocery stores and clothing stores with their scrubs and badges on. And that goes for the guys also strolling around in stores with their scrubs on. They may be doctors/rad techs/pt care techs or male nurses too. You brought this to light. I'll tell you where I am a germophobe, and that is at home. I will even run a bleach dilute wash with nothing in the washer after I've washed my scrubs or while I was in school my uniforms. I cringe at what people do in kitchens, as mine is practically an OR with no food touching surfaces and all things touched are gone back over wiping behind other dirty hands. I would alcohol down my clipboard and my reading glasses and scope before going into clinicals and before I got home; my pens too. Classmates thought I was wacked. Have I ever gone into a store with scrubs on? Yes, only to pick up an Rx and get out of there. We might get an interesting thread to find out what constitutes a true germophobe, I'd like to know!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
yeah i know what you mean,the other day i saw an quite attractive nurse(tall blond hair) entering a store and she was wearing scrubs (big no no!!!) and her hair was down..i understand the women like different hairstyles and they want to look cute but nursing is not a fashion show and the hair shouls be kept out of your face!!!!

the fact that she was wearing scrubs does not make her a nurse. and if she's not on duty, why should it matter to you whether her hair is up or down? it's easy enough to tie it up when you get to work. and my third point: what kind of a store was it? if she's shopping for make-up or clothing i wonder why she'd choose to do it in scrubs, but if's she's dashing into the grocery to buy a gallon of milk or something to feed her kids for dinner, what's the problem?

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:deadhorse:deadhorse:deadhorse:deadhorse:deadhorse:deadhorse:deadhorse

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Ok I dont know if you are a nursing student or what,but when I was in Nursing school the instructors always stressed the importance of maintaing microbe-free envinronment and this included change from your scrubs into the street cloths (yes in the hospital) after you punch out,scrubs shouldnt be wore outside the hospital envinronment period,unless they are brand new washed and you are ready to take off to you work!!! And I dont mean only avoiding shopping in scrubs but also dont bring the bacteria home to your family,also I think in the hospital cafeteria anyone included in the direct patient care should be wearing a lab coat...sorry I'm not a germophobe but I was trained with this mindset.

There's no such thing as a "microbe free" environment.

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the fact that she was wearing scrubs does not make her a nurse. and if she's not on duty, why should it matter to you whether her hair is up or down? it's easy enough to tie it up when you get to work. and my third point: what kind of a store was it? if she's shopping for make-up or clothing i wonder why she'd choose to do it in scrubs, but if's she's dashing into the grocery to buy a gallon of milk or something to feed her kids for dinner, what's the problem?

bookstore.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
Bookstore.

How do you know she wasn't on her way to work?

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How do you know she wasn't on her way to work?

Because she looked like she just got off work,like she run a a long marathon....everyone is entitled to their opinion,and I just dont think a nurse should be shopping in scrubs.I guess this is my personal pet peeve just like some people cant stand fake nails!

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