OT: engagement rings during clinicals?

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 27, 2011

How many of you wear your rings during clinicals? My e-ring sits up pretty high and I'm always hitting it. i'm afraid this will be a problem once school actually starts. Should i just stop wearing it once clinicals start?

I stopped wearing mine. It is a wedding ring, the diamond sits high and is square and diamonds on the side. After an instructor told us she lost her diamond because the brackets kept loosening up from the constant gloving I stopped wearing it. I didn't want to risk losing the diamond. My husband didn't like that I was no longer wearing a ring (yet he has slightly webbed fingers and can't wear one :rolleyes: ) so anyway, I told him if he would like to get me a band that has flat diamonds on it, like the anniversary bands, I will wear that.

Our school allows us to wear one ring on our ring finger.

Many people site many reasons why they don't wear theirs, infection and so on. I would clean mine though and wore gloves anytime I was doing anything that exposed to actually soiling my hands. My biggest reason was I didn't want to look down one day and see the diamond was gone.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Mar 27, 2011

I don't. Even before I started nursing school, I had to get prongs replaced on my marquis cut. I figured with gloving and handwashing and everything, I was going to lose the diamond at some point, so I choose to only wear my plain wedding band.

SurroDoula · Mar 27, 2011

We aren't allowed to wear any rings with stones, so I have a plain band for clinicals.

newRNstudent02 · Mar 27, 2011

I say, leave the big diamond at home and talk the boo into getting you something a little smaller to wear for clinicals. You can never have too many diamonds!

allnurses Guide · Mar 27, 2011

My engagement ring and wedding ring both are gorgeous and I love wearing them, but I do take them off for clinicals. They snag on the gloves and with some of the stuff I wind up having to deal with, I just don't want that crap (literally and figuratively) to be getting in and around the gemstones. I enjoy putting them back on after I have gotten home and showered. Gives me a reason to admire them again and remember why I have them :)

melmarie23, MSN, RN · Mar 27, 2011

i wore a plain band.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 27, 2011

Both when I trained and the hospital policy was 1 ring and had to be flat with no stones, couple reasons infection control was one but main one was less risk of injuring the patient. Even now I wear 2 rings both are flat with no stones

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Mar 27, 2011

I do not wear my rings to clinical/work. Mine sits high and is a princess cut, but it is rotated on it's side (they call it a "baseball diamond" setting) and although I LOVE it, sometimes I accidentally scratch myself. I do not want to accidentally scratch my patients I also get paranoid every time I bang my ring into something, and the fact that the prong edges are somewhat sharp it might rip my gloves which poses as an infection risk.

I also have a friend who has a gorgeous ring, but all of that hand sanitizer/foam use has damaged the metal :/ I don't want that happening to mine!

K_girl · Mar 27, 2011

That's what i was worried about. Thanks girls for all your help! Maybe I can use this as an argument to get a new ring..lol :)

TheCareerStudent · Mar 27, 2011

My rock always rips my gloves, so I just stick with my wedding band.

anonymousstudent · Mar 27, 2011

We also have a "no stones" policy. I also don't want to track anything into my house and the ring has so many little places for nasties to hide like under the prongs.