Acrylic nails on nursery workers

[Zapata29]

Have noticed some members of staff at DC's new nursery have very long, acrylic nails, which seems inappropriate especially since they're working in the baby room and could easily scratch the kids. It bothers me for hygiene reasons but I also dread to think of them changing my DC's nappy. Do nurseries usually have dress code/hygiene regulations that would cover things like false nails? And does anyone else find long pointy acrylic nails on nursery workers inappropriate?

[Tensixtysix]

They would be using disposable gloves when doing nappy changes.
I was a child minder for 6 years and always used vinyl gloves (single use), as I could never get the 'smell' off my hands with washing alone.

[Allyg1185]

Not allowed in the nursery I work in. Clean, short natural nails only

[bananaskinsnomnom]

My nursery (and my old nursery) allows them - no rule generally on colour (apart from extremes) but we do have a rule on length and shape and - I don’t know how to phrase this - making them 3D? So can’t have jewels on them and such.
We wouldn’t be allowed long pointy nails. We would be given a certain time to have them removed and tbh we all know the rules anyway.
Hygiene wise though we wear gloves for nappies, all toilet related things, cleaning and food prep and dishing out.
For fear of scratching, that’s why we have a rule on length and shape. Having said that, I’ve never known of a scratching incident. You could just ask the manager if there are rules regarding this, they may well have restrictions.

[KeepFuckingOff]

All nappy changing is done with gloves at our nursery, Id love to know how they keep them looking nice though, after a days work in nursery my hands and natural nails are very much the worse for wear, sand mud paint etc and constant hand washing, moving equipment and tidying up all day my nails don’t have a chance in hell of looking nice.

[NailsNeedDoing]

Acrylic nails, even pointy ones, won't be sharp enough to scratch, they are too thick. So I wouldn't worry from that POV. They probably also wear gloves for nappy changes, so shouldn't be an issue for hygiene.

I can see why it seems a bit inappropriate, but really, nursery staff are paid peanuts, and I don't think it's fair to dictate to people on such a low wage how they should have their own nails. If employers want control of things like that, then they need to pay their staff accordingly.

[Zapata29]

I didn't realise they used gloves for nappy changing, good to know! It's the length and how pointy they are that concerns me, as far as I'm aware false nails aren't allowed in professions that involve food preparation or tasks for which hygiene is a primary concern (e.g. healthcare) so I would've thought nurseries would have similar policies.

[Greyhound22]

Acrylic nails are sharp enough to scratch.

My son's face was badly scratched by one of the workers at his old nursery. They were very apologetic - I did question if they should be allowed. I really don't think they should be.

[Sandhead1]

Acrylic nails do scratch and I’ve seen extremely pointed nails which are a real hazard especially around babies and children.

[Tigerlilly10]

I am a senior nursery nurse within a nursery, we wear gloves and aprons whole Changing nappys and wipe down the changing table after each change and change gloves for each child.

Arcylic nails are NOT aloud at our setting, nor are we to have nail polish on, this is due to food hygiene,when preparing snack and cooking meals this in case of chipping

[stassy123]

We allow them, 13 years open, very busy nursery and the majority of the girls have their nails done and never had a problem with acrylics. Now I think about it we've definitely had more accidents with natural nails than acrylics!! Acrylic nails are thicker and I suppose less likely to scratch and cause an injury.

Gloves are worn for nappy changes and they're constantly washing their hands between activities and for meal times anyway.

Do you really want to be 'that' parent?

[Zapata29]

To be honest no, I don't want to be "that" parent but I'm genuinely concerned about my son getting scratched or poked in the eye by those things so that kind of overrides me not wanting to be awkward.

[Thehop]

The nursery I work in most have them. I don’t but I will say it’s always the natural nails that have sharp bits, acrylic is thick so doesn’t scratch.

[GriphookTheGoblin]

You're being ridiculous.

[Wildorchidz]

My neighbor’s toddler suffered a scratched cornea when the nursery staff member accidentally caught him with her pointy nails. It was painful and took quite a while to heal. All staff members now have short non-pointy nails.

[Chilledout11]

I love acrylics but I keep them short. It I sounds ridiculous to have them very long and pointy working with babies.

[stassy123]

Well your child is more likely to get hurt by a natural nail than an acrylic one so let's get all nursery staff members to remove their fingers incase your kid gets hurt shall we!?

Please! Don't be ridiculous.

These people (to my dismay) get paid absolute peanuts to look after the most precious thing in the world, your child. Let them have their nails done if that's what they want! Your child will survive.

[Jasharps]

I have 4 kids and have had acrylics. Definitely done more damage with a jaggy natural nail or their own nails than with my acrylics.

[Zapata29]

Stassy123 no need to be snippy, it was a genuine question - have never had acrylics so I don't know how thick they are, and a previous poster has said her son was scratched in the face so obviously it can happen. Not saying it can't happen with natural nails too, the issue is length and how sharp or pointy they are. As for the pay issue, there are rules regarding false nails/pointy nails/nail varnish in healthcare settings too, are you saying that because e.g. nurses don't get paid well those types of rules should be disregarded? Kind of irrelevant how much they're being paid, the question is are long, pointy, acrylic nails appropriate for nursery workers who are working with young children and involved in preparing food - if acrylics are too thick to scratch then great, that answers my question, but there's no need to call anyone ridiculous

[Zapata29]

And FYI imo it is way more ridiculous to work with young kids and have very long pointy nails than it is to worry about a kid getting scratched by those nails.

[stucknoue]

Acrylics don't have to be long and well done are no more likely to scratch than natural nails, they don't have to have polish on them. Natural nails can be dirty too, I'm not convinced they are any more of a hygiene risk.

[guest2013]

Plenty of mothers, including myself and most of my friends have acrylic nails and never injure our children with them. You're being extremely precious.

[PixieLumos]

Seems a bit silly and impractical to have them in that line of work, but I don’t think it’s worth complaining about.

[RB68]

As a Mother though you are rarely running around with 20 or so kids even if only a handful are your quota to deal with. I also find those Mums with these sorts of beauty regimes are rarely the messy play ones.....

I would say reasonable lengthy no points and no 3d items on the nails is fine - colour I wouldn't have an issue with. BUt I would say same for natural nails - reasonable well kept nails no 3d items etc if chips and flakes an issue with food prep then gloves to be worn. Many of the bigger nurseries now employ kitchen staff specifically now.

In terms of pay, th reason they are paid MW is usually because there is not enough money in the business to afford more - its never just a few pounds when you start adding NI on and the general running costs of businesses in this area of work (Caring for others) are under constant pressure with expenses from regulalatory bodies not to mention the ability of those with kids in nursery to pay for the car even with the free hours