Presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
September 26-29, 1999, San Francisco, California
Contact: Jim Sliwa -- (202) 942-9297 -- [email protected]
[September 25-29: (415) 978-3640]
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1999, 11:00 A.M. P.D.T.
Primary Author:
Shelly McNeil
University of Michigan
734-936-5205
[email protected]
More nurses wearing artificial fingernails harbor harmful bacteria and yeasts and handwashing is ineffective at removing these pathogens. The use of artificial fingernails by nurses may increase the chances that harmful bacteria are passed to patients and cause serious infection.
This study was performed in the laboratory of Dr. Carol A. Kauffman at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan by Dr. Shelly McNeil, Dr. Catherine Foster, and Dr. Carol Kauffman. The authors did not receive external funding for the work. Results of the study will be reported at the 39th Interscience Conference of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, September 26-29, 1999.
As the use of artificial acrylic fingernails has become more fashionable, more and more nurses have begun wearing them. Many studies in the literature have shown that bacteria on the hands of healthcare workers may be passed to patients and cause infection. In this study we compared 21 healthcare workers who wore artificial nails with 20 who did not. Nurses with artificial nails were more likely than those without to have harmful bacteria and yeasts on their nails. Before handwashing, 73% of nurses with artificial nails compared with only 32% of nurses without had harmful bacteria present on their nails. Following handwashing with an antimicrobial soap or a waterless alcohol-based gel, nurses with artificial nails continued to be much more likely to have harmful bacteria and yeasts on their nails. After handwashing, 68% of nurses wearing artificial nails had a harmful bacteria present compared to only 26% of nurses without artificial nails. Of 17 healthcare workers wearing artificial nails who were harboring harmful bacteria prior to handwashing, 94% still had a pathogen present after handwashing with soap and 67% after hand cleansing with gel.
This study demonstrates that nurses who wear artificial nails are more likely to harbor harmful bacteria than nurses who don't wear artificial nails even following handwashing with appropriate disinfectants. Thus, the use of artificial nails by nurses may increase the chances that harmful bacteria will be transmitted to patients and cause infection. For this reason we feel that hospital Infection Control Policies should discourage the use of artificial fingernails by all healthcare workers.
###
RSS