nurses and fake nails

pepsihla · Mar 28, 2007

I'm sure bacteria can harbor on chipped nail polish, but I think the length of the nails is the most concern. The longer the nails, the more likely chance of increased bacteria as well.

Also, rings are another culprit for harboring bacteria. The less rings the better. It would be ideal if there were no rings present.

Pumpkin1621 · Mar 28, 2007

The hospitals I have volunteered at always say no to nail polish. I don't like to wear much "colored" nail polish anyways b/c I think it looks tacky. I have seen nurses with the long red nails and I, personally, don't care for that look. (I have seen an OB nurse with really long bright red nails, and when she would hit the buttons on the IV her nails would make this clack clack sound.) If I wear polish at all, I wear clear. I am not sure why they say NO polish at all. No one has ever said anything to me about clear polish b/c it isn't noticeable. I would like to hear if polish, itself, is a health concern.

My nails grow really fast. I keep them trimmed to my finger tips. I am sure that when I start nursing school they will probably have to be shorter than that. I don't know.

Oh and don't get me started on artificial nails. I have seen some girls with pretty artificial nails, but the second you look under them... Yuck!

chenoaspirit, ASN, RN · Mar 28, 2007

Also, there is the layer between the real nail and the fake nail that bacteria get into. I cut my nails because I have accidently scratched patients when they werent kept cut short. Our hospital does not allow fake fingernails, but Ive seen some with them. I just wouldnt want them, they are pretty, but I dont want to have trapped germs between my nail and the acrylic.

Gromit · Mar 28, 2007

I'm sure bacteria can harbor on chipped nail polish, but I think the length of the nails is the most concern. The longer the nails, the more likely chance of increased bacteria as well.
Also, rings are another culprit for harboring bacteria. The less rings the better. It would be ideal if there were no rings present.

I understand the concern, but if I take my ring off, I may well jeopardize my own life -at least thats the feeling I get from my wife

RN BSN 2009 · Mar 28, 2007

nope.. not interested in harboring bacteria!!

TinyNurse, RN · Mar 28, 2007

as an RN, I can't handle long nails, i mean they puncure gloves, and could potentially scratch patients and that is with my own naturally long nails, I can't imagine what acrylic nails could do...................

now here's another thing............facial piercings are not allowed, and neither are acrylic nails............so how come the charge nurses can have acrylic nails and I can't have a facial piercing................???? seems weird to me..........

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2007

My facility is starting to talk about finally enforcing policy that has been in place for years. Thats the problem,, policy has been there,, its just never been enforced.

Lorie P. · Mar 28, 2007

clear nail polish is ok, but no long nails, bright polish or fake nails. I don't wear any of the above, I take care of many pt's with VRE, MRSA, HIV, CMV and other really bad cooties. I don't even wear my wedding band anymore, hubby asked why and when I explained that the cooties could get trapped underneath and that was a way to bring them home, he quickly understood.

Speaking of cooties, everynight at work when I clean my stethescope I also wipe down my ID badge with alcohol too.

Gromit · Mar 28, 2007

hehe. Thought >I

Lilnurse0803, RN · Mar 28, 2007

Here is something to think about. A few years ago when I took micro, I had a girl in my lab group with long, artificial nails. We were preparing agar plates with smears of a certain bacterium for a project on fecal coliforms. On top of the smear, we were to drop some tablets of antibiotics to see which kind worked against this bacterium. We accidentally dropped the tablet in the corner of the agar plate and that girl proceeded to move the tablet to the center of the plate with her pinky nail.

What we did not know was that her nail had scratched the agar in the process. When we revisited the plate 4 days later, there was a line of funny looking things that had cultured where her nail scraped. The micro teacher asked what had contaminated our plate and we remembered that the girl had used her nail to move the tablet to the center. It was very embarrasing for the girl, but I tell you that next class her nails were cut really short. The professor said that there was something under her nail that caused that colonization to occur. Yuck, we all had some ideas what that could have been.

Sweden · Mar 28, 2007

The hospitals I have volunteered at always say no to nail polish. I don't like to wear much "colored" nail polish anyways b/c I think it looks tacky. I have seen nurses with the long red nails and I, personally, don't care for that look. (I have seen an OB nurse with really long bright red nails, and when she would hit the buttons on the IV her nails would make this clack clack sound.) If I wear polish at all, I wear clear. I am not sure why they say NO polish at all. No one has ever said anything to me about clear polish b/c it isn't noticeable. I would like to hear if polish, itself, is a health concern.

One issue with clear (or colored) nail polish lies in that it harbors a lot of germs in tiny cracks (not noticeable to the eye) which are not that easy to wash off. Rings, watches also hide bacteria and make it almost impossible to wash your hands properly!

In our hospital all staff are forbidden to wear any kind of nail polish, false nails, rings or arm watches while on duty (includes everyone, from secretary, nurses, doctors to cleaning staff).

Our unit (nicu) takes this policy very seriously and nobody, including parents and visitors are allowed in if they can´t comply with the rules!!

Anna