artificial nails vs bloody bitten nails

Maybe you just need to work on the nail biting habit. After all there were nurses long before there were acrylics.

There have been huge debates on this forum before. The upshot is, it's not the nails, it's the glue and the fungus that tends to grow under the nails no matter how careful the wearer is.

I don't have any studies, however, the infection rate dropped in a surgery suite I worked in once artificial nails were banned. It was not just the number of infections but the type that lead to the ban. We were getting fecal coliforms that completely disappeared after the ban. Only anecdotal but convincing to me.

I don't know if studies have been done showing the drop in infection rates. I do know that studies have shown that artificial nails harbor organisms that real nails don't. Period. It doesn't matter how well manicured they are. It doesn't matter how crappy your real nails look. Unless you can find some studies proving that fake nails DON"T harm people, you are unlikely to change the policy of your institution. Even in NICUs, we don't use gloves for all patient contact so that is not a solution to the problem. I also have terrible real nails (probably just as short as yours). That still doesn't mean I can wear fake nails when they are against hospital policy. You can learn to stop biting your nails if it is a real problem for you.

Here are some resources:

http://infectioncontrol.ucsfmedicalcenter.org/FAQs/FAQ___Artificial_and_Long_Fing/body_faq___artificial_and_long_fing.html

While on the nail subject, I have often wondered about what is harbored around old chipped nail polish on either artificial or real nails.

And the studies even state that there is no increase in nosocomial infection from artificial vs long natural. So short artificial should be ok

No, it means that long natural nails and artificial nails should both be banned as they are where I work.

And the studies even state that there is no increase in nosocomial infection from artificial vs long natural. So short artificial should be ok

Short natural nails are what healthcare providers should have. That's what policies require in most institutions anyways. Short artificial IS NOT OK because they still promote the growth of microorganisms that real nails don't. Until you can prove that the increased amount of pathogens on your hands doesn't pose a health risk, you have to err on the side of caution and deal with having real nails. PLease read this from the CDC. Length is not the issue. You can stop biting your nails, you can't stop your fake nails from harboring pathogens.

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

.... HCWs who wear artificial nails are more likely to harbor gram-negative pathogens on their fingertips than are those who have natural nails, both before and after handwashing (347--349). Whether the length of natural or artificial nails is a substantial risk factor is unknown, because the majority of bacterial growth occurs along the proximal 1 mm of the nail adjacent to subungual skin (345,347,348). Recently, an outbreak of P. aeruginosa in a neonatal intensive care unit was attributed to two nurses (one with long natural nails and one with long artificial nails) who carried the implicated strains of Pseudomonas spp. on their hands (350). Patients were substantially more likely than controls to have been cared for by the two nurses during the exposure period, indicating that colonization of long or artificial nails with Pseudomonas spp. may have contributed to causing the outbreak. Personnel wearing artificial nails also have been epidemiologically implicated in several other outbreaks of infection caused by gram-negative bacilli and yeast (351--353). Although these studies provide evidence that wearing artificial nails poses an infection hazard, additional studies are warranted.

While on the nail subject, I have often wondered about what is harbored around old chipped nail polish on either artificial or real nails.

That's why most places won't allow nail polish either.