Gel Nails

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Mar 6, 2015

Here we go again! I'm not sure why threads like this get started and fed. If your employer sets a policy in place, you just abide by it! Why the need to dissect it on a forum such as this, like it's going to make a difference---NO GEL manicures, period!

onedayitllbeme · Mar 6, 2015

BuckybadgerRN, I for one find it really interesting to discuss regardless of hospital policy personally. I never wear nail polish but I'm interested in infection control so any thread that might shed some light on latest evidenced based information regarding something such as banning gel nail polish, I'm all ears 'and eyes' I recently tried to find some studies on this on pubmed and came up empty handed.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Mar 7, 2015

I know that this may seem like a trite topic, but our local hospital has just created policy that gel nails are unsanitary and has banned their use. It seems to me that gel nails aren't much different than regular nail polish, other than it lasts much longer/looks better. What's the general consensus on whether or not gel nails are unsanitary/inappropriate for the workplace?

It doesn't matter what we think. What matters is that your local hospital has banned their use.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Mar 7, 2015

I guess what I'm saying is that my hands are as clean as possible... always. I'm actually a bit of a germ-a-phobe. I actually wash my hands with real soap and water and try not to use that alcohol foam as much. I do wear nail polish and yes, I shake people's hands without gloves on, but I do that at church and the grocery store and the like. If I have a patient who is in neutrapenic precautions or who has something harsh likd C-diff... I'm gowning and gloving and all before I even enter their room. I am using the proper ppe in all of those situations. For everyone else, if I am doing anything with that patient other then shaking their hand in the hallway or touching their clothed shoulder with a word of encouragement... I am WEARING GLOVES. EVERY TIME. Therefore, I have always wondered why the nail thing has always been such a hotbed issue. If you are doing what you are supposed to be doing with patient care, your patients won't be coming in contact with your nails and you with their bacteria. I certainly don't dig in their wounds or change butts without gloves on... or any other procedure that would put me in direct contact with their bacteria.

Umm, sorry, but you don't know which parishiner has C. Diff and isn't hospitalized or who is on chemotherapy and has become neutropenic. In fact, you don't know anything about the health status of those with whom you're shaking hands at church. Or the grocery store, bus stop or McDonald's. C. Diff is just as likely to get trapped in your polish shaking hands at church as it is touching a C. Diff patient while doing an assessment. If you don't have polish, you don't have to worry about it.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2015

My nursing instructor explained that when gel polish gets old, it can start to lift. Then germs can flourish under when the gel is lifting, because gel usually wont chip. Nails polish usually just chips off as it gets old so no place for bacteria to harbor. If you maintain the gel and get it redone on time, then lifting isnt an issue anyway. And I dont know what truth there is to the harboring of bacteria, but its just the rationale behind why my program wont allow gel polish on the nails. However, I buy a decent polish that when applied with a good top coat, looks just like gel and doesnt chip. I had to bring the bottle to prove it was basic nail polish, but gel and regular polish can appear the same so I dont know how you employer is going to be able to differentiate.

Once mine start to lift I peal them off. Oddly satisfying. Even more satisfying when I hear people talking about paying to have them removed.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Mar 7, 2015

It doesn't matter what we think. What matters is that your local hospital has banned their use.

RubyVee;

As a fellow long-time member here I have an enormous amount of respect for your opinions, and I think I know what you're saying. . .

However. . .

I don't agree that hospital policy is the ONLY relevant issue. With some sincere effort, some dedication, good scholarship, there could be some change.

Maybe starting with a low-level convenience sample comparison of CFUs on gel nails versus acrylic. It might grow from there. Maybe even if it were to be partly supported by the manufacturers of the gel polish, this could get things started & if gel were to show lower rates of CFUs, then those who dispute the findings (saying perhaps, bias did to support from polish company) would be compelled to do their own research, that involved only gel nails, not lumped in with acrylics, and "prove" that there is no difference between infection rates between gel & acrylic.

Just some ideas for all y'all out there who really find this interesting and have more time or interest in this than I do.

But, it goes against the spirit of evidence based practice to just accept anything a hospital says just because they set a policy. EBP encourages us to make reasoned inquiries & logically debate the legitimacy of a policy if the entity asserts that the policy is "evidence based".

klone, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2015

Once mine start to lift I peal them off. Oddly satisfying. Even more satisfying when I hear people talking about paying to have them removed.

Peeling them off also peels off the top layer of your nail, leaving your nails weaker. If it's soaked and scraped off correctly, it won't do that. I still think they're overall bad for your nails. They look great when they're on, but when they're not, the nails always seem so much thinner/weaker.

ixchel · Mar 7, 2015

RubyVee;
As a fellow long-time member here I have an enormous amount of respect for your opinions, and I think I know what you're saying. . .
However. . .
I don't agree that hospital policy is the ONLY relevant issue. With some sincere effort, some dedication, good scholarship, there could be some change.
Maybe starting with a low-level convenience sample comparison of CFUs on gel nails versus acrylic. It might grow from there. Maybe even if it were to be partly supported by the manufacturers of the gel polish, this could get things started & if gel were to show lower rates of CFUs, then those who dispute the findings (saying perhaps, bias did to support from polish company) would be compelled to do their own research, that involved only gel nails, not lumped in with acrylics, and "prove" that there is no difference between infection rates between gel & acrylic.
Just some ideas for all y'all out there who really find this interesting and have more time or interest in this than I do.
But, it goes against the spirit of evidence based practice to just accept anything a hospital says just because they set a policy. EBP encourages us to make reasoned inquiries & logically debate the legitimacy of a policy if the entity asserts that the policy is "evidence based".

But evidence based practice indicates that any covering of the nails can increase infection risk. The hospitals that ban nail coverings do so because of the research that exists, not just because they can.

klone, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2015

But evidence based practice indicates that any covering of the nails can increase infection risk. The hospitals that ban nail coverings do so because of the research that exists, not just because they can.

Yet many hospitals still allow nail polish.

The research should be comparing gel polish vs. regular polish; not gel polish vs. acrylic nails.

The few times I've had gel polish, it never "lifted" as a few people have described. It just started chipping/peeling, the way regular polish does. It just happens after 2 weeks, rather than after 2 days (or 2 hours, sometimes).

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2015

Our ID department came and used the black light on them when we questioned it. Amazing how many peoples lit up, especially along the base of the nail. Same with the nail wraps Jamberries.

klone, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2015

Our ID department came and used the black light on them when we questioned it. Amazing how many peoples lit up, especially along the base of the nail. Same with the nail wraps Jamberries.

Did they also do it to regular polish? Or for that matter, unpolished nails?

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2015

They did it to everyone that day. We had a huge outbreak of MRSA and they were monitoring hand washing. The regular polish lit up with cracks, but the gel had a bigger ridge along the base to catch stuff. Unpolished nails were fine. They also did parents with artificial nail coverings.

Our policy now includes all gel, acrylic and wraps. They left in clear or light polish for some

reason.