artifical nails off..angry nurse

Nurses Safety

Published

Hi Everyone..i found this site looking for information on artifical nails and nurses.So,iam a brand new member.

I do home health and have had artifical nails on for 18yrs .Dec.30th i was told i was to take them off...so i contacted a nail tech and told her my situation and she (as well as one other salon) told me they were putting a gel(like a hard nail polish) over many of the nurses who had to take their nails off....so this is what i did.

On Jan.11th while talking to one of my supervisors about some paperwork,,i was reminded i had to take my nails off,,i said these are my own nails with a gel hardner over my nails..she said she would have to check that out...i tried to also with infection control but they never called me back.

When i returned to work 2 days later,,instead of telling me what they found out,i was written up,and told i could not work that day and was sent home.Iam very angry :angryfire

I took the gel off,and now my nails are sore ,hands look ugly,i cant peel an orange,scratch..nothing.Iam feeling very helpless and down.

Has anyone else experienced this when taking off their nails and how did you handle it? Are we not able to even have a gel temporarily over our thin weakened nails,,till the new stronger nails appears?

Please help as iam writing a rebuttal to this written warning.Thanks

Lady Sapphire

Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

I can tell you that I have no vitamin defiency, already take zinc and have tried everything. I think it's partly genetic, as my Mom had nails that were brittle and split also. Until I quit nursing I'm going to have ugly nails. That's just the way it is. But I don't have to like it.

I never wore my acrylics long, because I can't function in my nursing world or more importantly, in my personal world, with long ones. But I have to wonder if my patients ever think I'm a danger to them with the natural nails I sport now. They are not pretty.

A manicure has them looking nice for about 48 hours. So I have manicures, but mostly that's because I like to treat myself...certainly not because my nails are going to look nice (or healthy) for the week between them.

All this nail talk reminds me of a nurse I interviewed a few months back, nails were bitten down to the quick, it was really disgusting, I felt bad for him because I know it must be a terrible habit to break but I didn't hire him either.

Mandee

Just a question not flames. What does it look like to be considered a professional person in your neck of the woods? I don't see any docs, lawyers, CEO's etc. with piercings and tatoos that show. We are always saying that people don't respect us as professionals. If what we chose to do with our body is not apparent to others all well and good but if I had a surgeon come in with a tongue ring and tats I would not feel as comfortable. I know a lot of folks who feel that way and they are not all as ancient as I am. I don't think we need to go back to uniforms but Professional? What do others think? what does that look like?

EEYORE :wink2:

Tongue rings are DANGEROUS. You know there is the issue of pericarditis, or other infections. I think tongue rings are distasteful, only my opinion.

Where I live it took the postoffice 3 weeks to give me a 911 address because they had to use the GPS system to find our property. Heaven forbid I should need an ambulance, forget the fire dept.

At one hospital the doc's come in their overalls, or what ever they happen to be wearing. They make me want to puke. Just because I live in a very rural area doesn't give any professional to look like they just crawled out of bed, a barn, or a beer joint. Unfortunately tattoos cannot be easily erased. There are a lot of people paying for getting drunk and getting a tattoo or just getting one for fun. I kinda would sorta like to have a small rose on my ankle. My mother would stroke, Yes I am over 50.:p I do not even own a white uniform. Heaven forbid we go to that.

Well, isn't this timely! As I sat here, soaking my gel overlays in acetone to remove them, I thought "hmmmm I'll log onto Allnurses and see what's up".

Yep...I start my clinicals on Saturday, and the nails had to go. Not that I'd had them that long. I got them as a "treat" for myself before I headed to California for a vacation two weeks ago. Love the look of them, but had every intention of removing them before starting clinical. For a few reasons, and surprisingly, the fact that they are disallowed was the last one on the list:

(a) I ride horses. The gunk that accumulated where the nails "lifted" a little repulsed me. Now, I don't spend my time digging through my horse's stall, but I'm in arena dirt for a good portion of my time, and the dark brown spots that no matter what I did would NOT come out just turned my stomach. I must have been a walking petrie dish. And, before you start screaming, I had them done at a very reputable place, where several friends go (who do not ride) and they were done properly. I just had the misfortune of "seeing" the dirt that they couldn't :(

(b) they are expensive. My nails tend to go quickly, and I can think of a lot better things to do than serve my own vanity (as my natural nails aren't that bad, unlike some here) for that $50 a month.

© Studies have shown that the acrylic/gel nails are bacteria/fungus prone (see (a), above), and I believe it. No, I can't do EVERYTHING to prevent the spread of infection, but in choosing a career in health care I have a responsibility to my patient to LIMIT everything I possibly can that will transmit bacteria. To suggest that "well, other things spread bacteria to" is simply rationalizing and not an effective argument.

I'm with the "if you choose to be a nurse, you gotta let go of the fake nails" camp.

And let me tell you, my nails are now butt-ugly:) But clean!

Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

I promised to give a report on the status of my natural nails once my acrylics came off. They came off about 8 months ago, and it took at least 2 months for my natural nails to grow out.

As my nails have always been, my natural nails are still very thin and weak. Last week I had a manicure and had some hopes that I'd finally gotten someplace because they were all of one length, with about 1/16th inch of white showing, just as I always wore my acrylics. But in the last two days, I have had simple bumps here and there and now 3 of my formerly nice looking natural nails were split down to the quick. I had to clip them so close they now look like I bite them which I do not.

It's exactly this problem with my natural nails that drove me to acrylics in the first place. Not to have long, garish looking nails, but to have natural appearing nails that didn't give the appearance of poor grooming or habits. Sadly, going "au natural" has plummeted me right back into that category. I'm afraid the interviewer who mentioned someone whose hands were badly nail-bitten might think that of me, but it would hardly be the truth. The truth is that my own natural nails do not provide a nice, healthy, appealing appearance for more than a few days at a time.

And I guess I'm over being angry about it. But it makes me very sad...on a number of levels.

I wasn't real happy about removing my acrylic nails either. I used them for the same reasons you did. What I've done is used some nail hardeners such as sally hansen's or whatever I could find or was recommended to me. My nails are much stronger and I continue to work on them daily.

Good Luck

I promised to give a report on the status of my natural nails once my acrylics came off. They came off about 8 months ago, and it took at least 2 months for my natural nails to grow out.

As my nails have always been, my natural nails are still very thin and weak. Last week I had a manicure and had some hopes that I'd finally gotten someplace because they were all of one length, with about 1/16th inch of white showing, just as I always wore my acrylics. But in the last two days, I have had simple bumps here and there and now 3 of my formerly nice looking natural nails were split down to the quick. I had to clip them so close they now look like I bite them which I do not.

It's exactly this problem with my natural nails that drove me to acrylics in the first place. Not to have long, garish looking nails, but to have natural appearing nails that didn't give the appearance of poor grooming or habits. Sadly, going "au natural" has plummeted me right back into that category. I'm afraid the interviewer who mentioned someone whose hands were badly nail-bitten might think that of me, but it would hardly be the truth. The truth is that my own natural nails do not provide a nice, healthy, appealing appearance for more than a few days at a time.

And I guess I'm over being angry about it. But it makes me very sad...on a number of levels.

This thread is ridiculous and has gone on far too long. Nurses cannot wear acrylic nails: end of story. We all know this and know that these nails are a health hazard. Take them off and get over it. This is not directed at any one poster.

I respectfully ask the moderator to CLOSE THIS THREAD!!

I agree with previous poster....there is not a lot that can be added. Nurses should not wear artificial nails. Period. End of story. There is plenty of clinical research to back it up.

I personally have only ever had artificial nails applied once - for my wedding 17 years ago. I got talked into it...They looked beautful but I could not wait to get them off. So I have a hard time understanding the compulsion so many have with getting their nails done. Its just gross to me.

I just keep mine short, buffers work well, use lots of cuticle creams - I like Sally Hansen and Burts Bees. It also seems that my nails are tons stronger and look better when I remember to take vitamins. If you have had children, remember how great your hair and nails looked while pregnant and you were taking those PNV's?

So my advice is, take some good vitamins, pamper your hands, and spend that nail money on something else.

NOW can we shut this thing down?

Specializes in CCRN, CNRN, Flight Nurse.

Vitamins have never done a thing for my nails - even when I was pregnant.

Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

BetsRN wrote: "This thread is ridiculous and has gone on far too long."

Then please don't read it anymore. No one is forcing you. Those of us who have this problem with our natural nails continue hoping that someone else, who HAS had the problem, might have a suggestion that works for us. Although, so, far, nothing, including Burt's Bees, seems to help me. The health of those who are affected in this way, not to mention the appearance we make as health care professionals, is at issue, not just our hurt feelings and ego.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Tnt, I thank you for sacrificing what you have for what you do! Many others refuse and put their patients in potential danger. I know weak and breakable nails are the pits. I have them, too. I am constantly clipping them to keep from breaking them below the quick. They are ugly as they can be, and my hands are NOT a thing I like to show off. I thank you for doing the right thing, even though it's come at a cost to you. It really IS the right thing to do.

Specializes in Psychiatric, Home Health, Geriatrics.
Thanks for replying..so it is true that i cant even have a gel hardner over my nails?Has anybody addressed your cracked and sometimes bleeding finger pads?I agree ,i would think that would be more or as detrimental then the artifical nails.So you made lemonade with the lemons,they threw at us nurses,huh?

I hope i can reach that point,iam still very angry and my nails hurt.It angers me that our work has so much control over us.Guess i need to get a new job,huh??Ha!ha!

You laugh, but I was recently hired on a new job and my first question was about the acceptability of artificial nails... I would have turned down the offer if they were considered unacceptable.

Maybe if you try the approach that THEY will be liable if you should contract an infection from the cracks in the fingers... usually if you hit them where it hurts (in the pocket) they will change their tune. Of course you also run the risk of being let go. Only YOU can make that call.

+ Add a Comment