nails

Nurses General Nursing

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i was told that nurses cant wear fake nails or nail polish is that true?

Specializes in Neuro.

I too have thin, brittle nails, BUT...I will do nothing that could jeopardize the lives of my patients if I can help it. That means no longer wearing my beloved fake nails!!! :o

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Specializes in ER-Adult and Peds, also ICU.

Woody, I am sorry I offended you, and agree with some of what you say. I think long hair should be pulled back, and long fake nails are distasteful. But I think that I can be and am professional in comfortable scrubs that allow for movement. Things have changed, some of them good some bad. I hate computerized charting. I hate that we spend more time on paperwork than pts. However, the autonomy that we now are able to practice with is a great thing. I personally think that nursing caps make you look like you work at McDonalds, and dress uniforms are not practical. These may be things that older nurses took pride in, b/c it set them apart. But I am glad that I don't just oversee LPNs doing pt care in a dress with a cap on. I want to provide the care for my pts myself. I want to be certified and educated to the point where I have an understanding of the human body and medications that allow me to practice nursing and medicine as peers with the Docs. I also put pt care and well being above all. I think that body piercings are a bigger problem than nails. I also do not wear makeup like I am going out to a club. Please forgive my offense I don't want to fight, there is enough of that in the work place.:smiley_abI am sorry. My main intention was to build up this person who sounds very much like she would be a great nurse and cares.

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Specializes in Pediatric home care..

I read somewere that fingernails acount for fully 50% of infection transfer between pat. I will try to find the article.

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I would always get hang nails that get infected to the point wherei would have to change a band aide after everytime i wash my hands. I read up on the new LCN's (light concept nails) and love em, no chipping or cracking, get them done every three weeks, and i pay a little extra for the pink and whites so i always have a clean french. Since its a gel there is no chipping of paint. They are more expensive than acrylics, but it hink they are worth it. I haven't had an issue yet with school, last smester my prof was releived b/c i didn't have infections on my hands anymore.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
Everyone wears gloves, bacteria and other organisms have been known to go through them also. That's why we have to wash our hands after taking them off. I am one of those people too that frequent hand washing softens my nails and they break off. Nail polish does not help, it comes off daily, no matter what kind I used. I found relief in overlays and false nails. So I keep it short and clean. 95% of the nurses that I have worked with wear them too, no one is going to adhere to that policy. Fake nails are here to stay, unless they want a real nursing shortage.

I think the point is that bacteria and other organisms and picked up no matter where you are (home, shopping, etc) No matter how well you wash you don't get all of it underneath fake nails or natural long nails and while you may wear gloves, the times that you don't, such as passing meds, you can still transmit harmful organisms to patients. The hospital where I work has been enforcing "no acrylic nails" for about 2 years.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
Don't mean to be a smart a-- but you sound like one of the nurses that think that we should all still wear caps and whites.

I was one of those nurses.....I wore all white, including support hose, butt ugly shoes and yes even a cap. Although I would never want to go back to that.....nurses were never more revered and respected than when we wore all white and caps. Bonus was everyone knew who was a nurse and who wasn't.

I happily wear colorful, comfortable scrubs, birkenstock clogs and short trimmed polished natural nails.

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

also grow a real thick skin b/c hon it can be really rough. there are always at least a couple of nurses anywhere you work that will stab you in the back. i make it a practice to keep my mouth closed and my ears open for at least the first 6 months on the job. just some ideas. good luck to ya. there is nothing in the world like saving lives even with the negative aspects of the job.:cheers:

tired brave heart:yelclap:oh how true! that happened to me in nursing school too. most of the students were a lot younger than me, and just looked for something to get against me, because i was an experienced emt at the time. one day i had a lady who had unequal pupils in her eyes. anyway, a co-student offered to watch her while i went down for my lunch break. when i came back, i learned the person told the instructor about it. so she ran into the patient's room, followed by 3 of those disrespectful younguns. when the instructor examined her she told her her pupils were like that for several years, and nobody found anything neurologically wrong with her. that incident just about floored me to think someone would deliberately go to the instructor over that when i knew she was like that.

after that, i stayed by myself. i knew then i would be safe, and i finished nursing school with a perfect attendance. :nurse:there was only 1 other student with it besides me.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
Any good articfial nail is NOT going to fall off in a patient's wound! Lee Press On nails are a different story. And the gloves would keep 'em contained anyway.

Reminds me of an instructor in nursing school who told us we always had to wear panties and panty hose...she had a theory that we all had (and NO I am NOT making this up) crotch dandruff and we needed to keep it contained in our panty hose so as not to contaminate our environment.

Well, she was kind of right about the "crotch dandruff"...Scrub dresses aren't allowed in the OR for that reason. Circulators are encouraged to wear those warm up jackets to cover the skin on their arms because of skin shed..It sounds anal, but these protocols are in place for a reason and why even take a chance with someone else's health? My nails are crappy too, but I deal with it. I just don't believe fake or excessively long nails belong in the healthcare setting. Trust me, I love jewelry and have long hair..But I don't wear my dangling earrings in the OR and I make sure all of my hair is covered. I do this because I am mature enough and professional enough to know it's not all about me, it's about that patient. I HAVE seen items fall into a surgical wound(ie jewelry) and I've seen a tech's excessively long nails poke through a surgical glove-this contaminated part of the sterile field and put her at some risk.(she got blood on her hands)

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