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So I am getting into clinical's at nursing school and while there is no rule against it I wanted to know how many of you wear/don't wear your engagement rings while working. My ring is pretty low set and doesn't have sharp corners on purpose but do yall ever have issues with the ring tearing gloves? I'm not worried about the "getting stuff on it" part some people seem concerned over because that is exactly why I wear gloves but I don't want my ring to mess up the gloves and create a health hazard or anything. Thanks!
I've never had a problem with my rings tearing the gloves, but I did lose a small stone from my enhancer.
The jeweler told me that the constant putting on/taking off of the gloves pulls the prongs loose and that's why I lost a stone. After that I quit wearing my rings to work.
You shouldn't wear rings under your gloves. I'm sure they will cover this in one of your labs.
Most nurses either leave their rings at home or wear them on a safety pin, pinned to their uniform.
I guess I will have to invest in a nice chain or something, wear it around my neck. Thanks ladies!
I'm surprised your school doesn't have a rule against it -- most do. For hygiene reasons, to protect the patients, you shouldn't wear rings; germs love to hide on & around them, and you're never going to take off your ring to clean your hands, and clean it too, every time you wash your hands, so it's best to just not kid yourself. (On top of that there's the issue of your ring tearing holes in gloves, but that's a whole 'nother issue and NOT the main one you should be concerned about.) You should not be wearing wristwatches for the same reason (buy a clip-on one from where you purchase your scrubs instead).
I wear my engagement ring on my nametag, or pin it inside my uniform pocket. I have insurance so I'm not afraid of losing it, and I'd rather have it with/on me.
ETA: I wouldn't wear it on a necklace, either. : / I know my school has a policy against necklaces because patients can grab them & hurt you, and they can get caught on things. Sorry to make this difficult for you; it sucks, I know! I would just buy some safety pins and fasten it to your uniform. If you want other people to be able to see it, try to get it to stay on your nametag, or pin it to the outside of your uniform.
I always wear my ring, and it has never ripped any gloves. It doesn't have any prongs though (I believe it's called a half bezel setting).
I work in a lab and I wear gloves all day. I have never taken off my e-ring because of it. We do not have a policy against it, and I asked for a low profile ring so it would not tear the glove. I have never had a problem with it, but I know my FMIL who is a nurse does not wear hers.
Unless you have to work in the OR or NICU, you can wear your rings.
I see most of the RNs wear their e-rings and/or wedding band. Since I am an OR RN, I don't wear my e-ring. Once we get married, I will only wear my wedding band except on days that I scrub. Then I will wear it with my necklace.
My school says that we can wear a small band, but i have seen students wear their rings. Personally I don't plan on wearing my ring or a band. Just think of all of the germs that you come in contact with at a hospital even with the gloves off.
I have heard of people losing the whole ring when taking off the glove and throwing it away. Its not worth it. I know I'm engaged/married, do my patients really need to know? And on a necklace, what if the chain breaks? I had to do that when I forgot to take my ring off and I was a nervous wreck that the chain would break.
I work in a lab and I wear gloves all day with my wedding ring and another ring on my right hand. Neither ring is very low profile and yet I've never had any problems with snagging. The gloves seem to tear more easily on other things than they do on my rings.
I don't think it is a problem. Sometimes my hands sweat in the gloves though and I wonder if that wears off the "white" gold. But my warranty from the jeweler allows me to get the rhodium plating done again for free so it's not a problem.
I always wear my ring. I tried to taking it off for work but I find that I neve remember to put it back on. Plus I just like wearing it (my finger feels naked with out it)
The only time it's ever an issue is when I'm using steile gloves. I find it next to impossible to glove using sterile procedure and not rip the glove or have it get caught and mess the whole procedure up. So whenever i need to do a dressing or trach care I take it off and clip it onto my ID badge.
Thanks everyone for the input. The answers seem to be all across the spectrum. Hm. I guess I'm "old-fashioned" or something because I have waited a long time to get this ring, I want to wear it as much as I can!
While I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my ring, I too am in clinicals and am not wearing my ring while working. I do it for the microbe factor-both for myself and for my patients. I have channel set stones with a prong center stone and I can just imagine all the yucky stuff that will get inside all the little spaces on my ring-EW! I don't want to give it to patients, and I also don't want to bring it home to my family and wear the germs all the time! I also wear a lapel-pin watch as opposed to a wrist watch for the same reason. I DO seriously go through withdrawls for my ring whenever I don't have it on, and as soon as I leave the facility I put it back on 
I work as a nursing assistant and I'm a nursing student, and I haven't had any problems.. I've had the my e-ring for a year now.
P.S.. almost all of the nurses at my work where both their e-ring and wedding band everyday to work. I really don't feel comfortable wearing it on a chain or clipping it to my name badge.. I'd be afraid of losing it.
@sarahberah: I really wanted to wear mine too, and felt really bad not wearing it on my finger. BUT I feel that the health & safety of my patients comes before my personal comfort regarding a trinket. Eventually you get used to it. : )
@Blondee: I know that a lot of nurses DO wear them (in fact, I don't know of any nurses I've worked with who don't), but when you consider the fact that the number of hospital-acquired infections are on the rise...you start to think that maybe this is one of the reasons why. (Plus, a lot of the infections now are antibiotic-resistant, so it's even MORE important to be washing your hands thoroughly, which means without a ring on your finger.)
If you're afraid of the ring getting lost, I'd suggest taking out insurance on it so you know you can get it replaced, or don't wear it to work/clinicals. (Again, like I said, I KNOW it's hard. But it's for the good of your patients, and a good nurse should always put her patients' safety first.)
Thanks for this post! My BF and I are looking at rings, and as I start clinicals in May (medical student), the glove thing is a definite concern. I was limiting the search to low-profile rings, but he kept insisting I wouldn't wear them at school/work anyway. Sigh, I guess he was right (he better not get used to that!).
I am a neuro ICU nurse and can't stomach the thought of wearing my engagement ring or wedding band on my hand at work. If you are familiar with neuro patients, you'll know what I mean. I keep my rings at home......too scared one of my combative or confused patients could yank it off a necklace. My husband is an anesthesiologist and they are not allowed to wear their rings in the OR. He slides his onto his ID holder while at work.
I'm a clinical microbiologist and I work in a hospital. I wear my ring to work, and so do most of the other women in our lab. I'm constantly taking gloves on and off, but I haven't had a problem. Just take your ring to get the prongs tightened about once a year! As for spread of infection, if you are wearing gloves, washing your hands and using alcohol based sanitizer per protocol I wouldn't foresee it causing a problem. Of course you would have to take into consideration the form of your ring, and whether there are little nooks and crannies that don't get clean. We do have a rule that fngernails can't be more than 1/4" long, and nail polish cannot be chipped, because bacteria can hide there. I don't have patient contact though, so there may be other reasons for not wearing a ring when dealing with patients.
I'm a pediatrician, and purposefully got a ring that I can wear to work. It's a band with a few tiny diamonds scattered about, but they don't stick out. All of the doctors I know just wear a simple band to work, even though some of them have solitaires they wear socially ( I don't because we spend most of our free time camping or hiking or doing something outside, and I figured if I'm not going to wear a soliataire to work and I'm not going to wear it on the weekends, what's the point?)
Some of the nurses wear their solitaires to work, but not many of them. If you do decide to wear a ring at the hospital keep in mind that it will be exposed to gallons of hand sanitizer, and so you'll probably want to get it cleaned more often than your average ring.
I'm a family practice physician, and was a little concerned about this issue when I picked out my dream ring. My ring is 1.5 ct center princess-cut with channel diamonds. I was so happy to find that I can wear my gloves at work with no issues whatsoever, and have no problems even when I'm doing minor office procedures or surgeries. But some of my partners do just wear their band.
In the world of pharmacy, our regulations require all jewelry to be removed prior to washing and gloving. I comply with this and do not wear my ring when working. However, my ring is very uncomfortable under the gloves anyways. Our regulations also state that powdered makeup cannot be worn while making IVs, only liquid makeup can be... We have very detailed, strict regulations!
I am in Nursing school too, and our hospital's policy says no jewelry except for wedding/ engagement rings. For clinical, I leave my e-ring at home and wear only my wedding band. My e-ring never ripped a glove, but it seemed to slow me down when I was putting on and taking off gloves. Plus I was always worried about accidentally scratching a patient while repositioning them.
I'm a RN and I wear my ring every single day :) I have had no issues with it ripping gloves or anything. I would say wear it!
I'm an RN and work at a place with a no long sleeves and no watches or rings policy. I don't mind it. It is gross if you think what could be on your ring from work exposure.
I never wore my rings to work, but after having forgotten where they last were so many times, and panicking thinking they were lost, I started wearing them to work. They've never torn the gloves, even though my e-ring is high set. When I go to the OR, I tie them into the drawstring on my scrubs. Not a problem:)
I am also a student starting my clinical and I wear my ring. I didn't at first because its a solitaire and sits kinda high. But then I looked around and realized everyone else was wearing theirs and I felt left out :) So I started wearing it. The only issue I have sometimes is trying to put on sterile gloves. Other than that, no issues. Once I acutally get married I plan on just wearing my band to work.
I am an L&D nurse, and I do NOT wear my ring anymore at work! When I first got engaged the constant taking on and off gloves actually popped my solitaire diamond out...thankfully I told everyone in the patients room "dont move" and found it on the floor before it got kicked around! You will be fine without it for the 8 hours you're in clinicals.
I also wear gloves all day with my wedding rings. My setting is not particularly high or low. I do find that the thicker mil nitrile gloves (purple Kimberly Clark) don't tear as much. If I wear the cheap blue nitriles, they rip really easily (with or without rings). I don't wear latex gloves, as they are not compatible with the chemicals I work with.
I normally don't wear my engagement ring, but I do wear my wedding band. I just think it's to risky. I see alot of my fellow RN's wear their whole set, so, it's up to you
I don't think it's risky for you or your ring (or patients!) to wear it at work. It should be covered while you are working, so nothing wil get on it, and as long as it doesn't have sharp edges, it shouldn't tear the gloves. I work in a virology lab and wear gloves everyday - two pairs when I'm actually handling virus. I've never had my gloves rip or get holes in them. The only things to be aware of is not yanking on the stone too hard when pulling off your gloves, as you could loosen the prongs.
I'm a medical student and specifically got a low set ring so it wouldn't tear gloves. You definately cannot wear rings if you are going into surgery or if you are wearing sterile gloves for procedures, but otherwise just pick a size up from what you would normally wear if need be to ensure no rips.
I wear mine (3 stone with 2.5 ct center and 1.5 ct side stones ) all the time. Don't take the E ring off.
I get it cleaned regulary and it's never poked thru my nitrile gloves ever.
But that's just me.
On a few occasions, I've worn the wedding band by itself though (low profile eternity band with diamonds all the way around). Also not poked holes thru gloves either.
I am a dental hygienist and wear latex gloves everyday. I have never had a problem with putting on/taking off gloves while wearing my ring. I do use the powder free gloves. I wash my hands constantly also. We were not allowed to wear rings or any jewelry when were doing clinicals in school.
I never wear my e-ring at work (I am an NICU nurse) because the potential for it harbouring bacteria and spreading infection to the babies. I sometimes wear my wedding band, but when I do I don't touch patients without gloves on.
I am a chef and I don't wear my ring to work ever. My jeweler suggested that those who work with their hands should not or they risk damaging the ring
. My ring would get really dirty and it would be unsanitary. I also don't wear my ring to work out or sleep, but that's a different story.
I'm in dental school...our school does state that we should only wear a wedding band, but everyone wears their e-rings as well. I specifically chose a ring that laid flat enough that I wouldn't have a problem with it. To echo what others have said: if you need to do any scrubbing, rings are no nos, but for everyday stuff, just turn your ring to the side so it doesn't tear your gloves.
Im a veterinary surgeon and operate about 5 times a day, I have opted for a plan platinum band(has to be taken off regularly anyway) as my wedding ring and am embellishing my e ring to be only worn socially...
I have to take my ring off so often, Im petrified of losing it!
The only good thing is we have an ultrasonic cleaner at work, which we dont use for medical purposes anymore, but we can all clean our rings in it!!
:)
I'm working in a microbiology lab and I've found that wearing a ring all the time under gloves can be painful. Sometimes, if I'm in a hurry, a glove will snag on it and pull it horizontally. Repeated occurrences have left my knuckle hurting and weak when I try to support things with my hands. I would recommend taking it off before work.
I'm starting Nursing School this semester too and instead of wearing my engagement ring (I'm getting a chain for it to wear as a necklace) I bought a $30 plain silver 4mm band @ Walmart to wear. We do have rules about wearing rings @ my school. So I'm just going to wear the plain band :)
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