OT: engagement rings during clinicals?

0402 · Mar 27, 2011

We don't have a policy against stones, but I wear a plain band (it has a claddaugh etched on it, but in general, it's a plain, flat band). It's very easy to clean, with no little nooks and crannies, and it doesn't get caught on anything.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Mar 27, 2011

My gf/soon to be fiance said she is just going to wear her ring on a necklace. I said there is no way in hell that was going to happen and I would just buy her a band for work. I think she knew what she was doing there....

Trauma Columnist · Mar 27, 2011

I wore my original engagement ring for several yrs as a nurse as both rings were soldered together. Then for my 20th anniversary I got a new flat diamond ring. I had it redone for my 25th and on my 30th anniversary I had it made into an anniversary ring which I designed to be flat and smooth also. My original diamond from my engagement ring was made into an eternity bracelet that can't be removed.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2011

Our school policy was only one ring..and it had to be a plain ring (think plain wedding band or an anniversary band). We were not allowed to wear our engagement rings at all.

In all actuality no matter how much it kills you to not wear it, you really won't want to once you see all the "goodies" that can get stuck in all the crevices of the ring. ewwww, yuck. Add in, rights that are not smooth tend to rip the gloves leaving you exposed to bacteria and infection, also, its very easy to scratch a patient with a ring that isn't smooth.

Leave the engagement ring home and put it back on once you get home :)

microtutor · Mar 28, 2011

Yikes! Not sure what I am going to do once I start school... I only have one ring, and it sticks up. No $$ for a new one. I guess I'll be getting a genuine fake one or something!

:monkeydance:

Lennonninja, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 28, 2011

I don't wear my engagement ring since it's a solitaire in a tall setting. I do wear my wedding band with the stones set into the band so they're literally completely unable to injure people.

tablefor9, RN · Mar 28, 2011

True story for any guys that don't want to shell the corn for a flat band or channel set...

Imagine my OMG moment when I looked down to find 2 carats, square cut, G, VVS, gone. Nothing but gaping prongs and the smaller stones intact on the sides.

I was glad it was insured, but that's not the point.

2011NursingStudent · Mar 28, 2011

It's really going to kill me to take my ring off =( :crying2: Our wedding is this year too, I start nursing school a few weeks after the wedding. I know that's the wisest thing to do though, I really don't want to bring bacteria home in it, risk losing a stone, etc.

allnurses Guide · Mar 28, 2011

I started NS eight weeks after our wedding too. I don't like taking my rings off, but I sure enjoy putting them back on. :)

Streamline2010 · Mar 29, 2011

No rings at all, but I am neither engaged nor married so I'd have a hard time making a case for why I must wear any ring, lol.

As many times as I need to do hand hygiene, I don't want any rings whatsoever in any facility where I am treating real patients. (I'll maybe wear some bling in sim lab.) The rule at "my" school is one band ring without any stones and preferably without any grooves to catch germs. But I see the instructors in clinicals all the time wearing their 1.25 to 2ct center stone and there are sidestones or even pave' in the shanks and/or wedding bands, and I have seen go on all this all semester. And those instructors do hands-on demos like change dressings.

2ct is a huge RB, not as massive a stone in a princess or Asscher or such. But, as ct weight goes up, the depth of the stone does, too, so you have that much more height and mass sticking up off your finger. I kind of decided for office work that 1.25ct RB was about the limit so that it didn't get in my way of actually using my hands.

People are right about gloves loosening prongs. Over time, they do a pretty good job of it.

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

i used to wear my e-ring all over, clinical, but now i leave it at home incase i have to take it off, or scrub or get some mysterious fluid on it lol.

i know it'll be there when i get home :) i rather that than have a ripped glove and have it dropped in a red bag to get some poop off it (god forbid)

Piglet68 · Mar 30, 2011

My school only allows solid bands. I have a solid gold wedding band and I do wear it. I do not wear my engagement rink which is a three stone setting. Even if my school allowed it I would not wear it because of the chance that it may pierce the gloves resulting in exposure to all kinds of pathogens.