The fingernail police!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I knew it was coming,but...the hospitals around here are "outlawing" fake nails and/or overlays. I can see their issue with bacteria, etc..under the nails..

but it bothers me that they are dictating what I can or cant have on my own body. For instance, if nails are dirty - what about jewelry, earrings, etc.,where do you draw the line? Does it not make sense that anyone who goes to the trouble of having nice nails would also take the time to wash under those nails. Im not talking about 6" long tiger nails - but any length, nomatter how short,isnt allowed. I am a nail biter - if I dont have overlays, I will be biting my nails all day - how sanitary is that? I was just wondering if this was a local thing or country wide.

I had a micro professor who did a study: People with short nails, people with long nails. They were tested after a normal day of work. The people with short nails had far fewer microbes growing under their fingernails even before washing. After washing, the folks with long nails still had almost the same growth they had before. The short nail folks had far less.

Really, if you're in this job, vanity just can't take precendence over infection control.

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Much as I loved having nails -- they're gone!! I worked in Pedi's with a gal who was helping to retrain a four year old for an IV stick and she scratched him -- unintentionally, of course -- nasty looking scratch! (looked worse than the IV site -- even a couple of days later) However, from that day on, I have kept them short and clean!!!

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Specializes in Home Health Case Mgr.

Yikes...........look at all the places we put our hands as nurses...golves or not. Nails, jewelry kept to minimum is standard for a reason....lets not get unreasonable. The same rationale is seen in the kitchen...hair up in net. How confident would you feel about a surgeon with long, painted nails...no thanks, give me a non jewelried up dried out old hand of a doctor any day.

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Specializes in Hey I'm now an RN!!.

I agree about losing the nails. It was a big debate in our hospital 4 years ago...everyone's over it. It really is horrifying to see what grows from underneath nails...long or fake. Scrubing shorter nails is much easier, in my opinion. That's all.

I agree with you Earl58

deb,

thanks for providing those links....all 3 explained the hazards well and fortunately, most nurses have been in agreement once they've reviewed the data.

leslie

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Specializes in Research,Peds,Neuro,Psych,.
Well, this one has been debated here on these boards before and at the risk of sounding redudant, here I go. It's been shown in study after study---- ( in a NICU in Oklahoma even, where babies were dying of infections linked to ONE Nurse's fake nails)---- that fakes/ and/or long nails have NO place in clinical nursing. When they show the same statistics and evidence of infectoin related to wear of jewelry, I expect similar policies to come about regarding that, too.

To me, it is common sense; fakes and long nails have NO place in clinical areas. It's not about "body control" or being "nail Nazi's" but it IS about another type of control, and that would be "Infection Control". How would YOU like to be that nurse who was linked with deadly infection in a hospital or clinic???? I would never forgive myself.

And there are ways to stop biting one's nails, if you want to. It's a habit like anything else,that can be broken (and should for your own protection).

In case you are one who likes to see articles related to a subject that is debatable, here are a couple for you:

http://community.nursingspectrum.com/MagazineArticles/article.cfm?AID=6335

http://www.nurseweek.com/news/features/03-06/nails.asp

http://nsweb.nursingspectrum.com/cfforms/GuestLecture/BeautifulHands.cfm

My feelings exactly..we are here to take care of the patients, not make them sicker. If you choose to work in a hospital you should follow their rules for safety.

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This rule is being mandated by JCAHO, following CDC and NIH guidelines. The hospitals are not making it up.

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical/Maternal and Child.
We have some nurses/techs where I work that still have the fake nails, even tho' notices have been posted for over a year now. No 'nail' police as yet. Some of you already know my situation....unit currently looking for yet another manager/director since May, so no 'Mom' on the unit to 'police' the area.

It is not just a 'patient' thing here, this is a new regulation handed down from OSHA and JCAHO. Why would you want to bring home all the potential 'bugs' to you and your family?? Gloves or no gloves, germs can get into those small tiny spots and stay there. What if you got an infection between the fake nail and your nail..............uuurrggghhhh!! I can't imagine how disgusting that would be!!!

Think about the patients too. Some of them have skin that is paper thin and you could really 'slice' them up!

I think the fake nails, when kept up, are pretty......but not on a nurse/tech in direct patient care.

The ones where I work are directly defying the regs......it wouldn't bother me to start handing out fines!!

I'm one of these people who has her nails done every two weeks, but last year while I was working OB we got the word and I did do away with my acrylics. Now that I'm not longer in the clinical area and doing case management for Medicaid, I started getting my nails done again. It's true that I was very disappointed that I had to quit getting them done because I loved to get all the nail designs but they really do not have a place in pt care.

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I have worn acrylic nails since I was 15 and now I am 22 and I always thought that real nails scratched worse and easier than fake nails. I agree with everyone about hygiene but as long as your nails are a short length I don't see anything wrong with wearing acrylics. You can't really get that bad of a scratch from acrylic which is rounded plastic! If a hospital I worked at told me I had to take them off then I would but other than that I would keep them clean and at a reasonable length.

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I have worn acrylic nails since I was 15 and now I am 22 and I always thought that real nails scratched worse and easier than fake nails. I agree with everyone about hygiene but as long as your nails are a short length I don't see anything wrong with wearing acrylics. You can't really get that bad of a scratch from acrylic which is rounded plastic! If a hospital I worked at told me I had to take them off then I would but other than that I would keep them clean and at a reasonable length.

Did you read the links provided? It isn't about hygeine or handwashing or even scratching. Acrylic nails support the growth of certain pathogens to an extent that real nails don't. They can look as clean as can be, they aren't. Simple as that.

If nurses don't follow basic infection control practices, there is a real problem out there. Our units don't allow fake nails, long nails, nail polish, rings or watches.

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it's your job, take it or leave it. Sorry, you have no sympathy from me. Safety over fashion. All my nails are cut and filed shorter than the tips of my fingers and that's the way they stay.

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parents and visitors you can't force. Nurses on the other hand aught to listen to reason and have to follow safety regulations

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