Any triage nurses out there?

[Pob13]

Last week DH sliced through his finger nail chopping veg. After a call to 111 we went to a minor injuries unit. The triage nurse assessed it and applied some glue to seal the cut nail shut. She advised that we regularly apply clear nail varnish and basically wait until it grows out.

After several layers of varnish i thought we should clean it off and start a fresh coat. Unfortunately the glue came off as well. We have reapplied varnish but im not sure if it still needs glue as well. It looked like some sort of super glue. Could we just put some super glue on it, or should he go and see a nurse?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I'd take it back to the nurse. In addition to putting the glue on again it should be checked for signs of infection.

Is it just his finger nail, is it growing normally.

@MissConductUS thanks

@HoleyCoMoley it was only a week ago so hasnt really grown yet. the triage nurse thought it would just grow normally. it is still attached at the sides. the finger underneath seems to be ok. it bled a lot at the time, but hasnt bruised or bled since.

Any swelling, redness or tenderness?

@MissConductUS nope, it was sore the first day but has been fine since.

Can you post a pic?

Hopefully this works. This was on the first day after she glued it. she just put a layer of glue along the cut, you can sort of see where it overflowed onto the finger.
There is now no blood at all, just the u shaped cut.

The cut starts a couple of milimetres down the nail, so isnt on the nail bed.

Did anyone assess of there was a nail bed injury? I have never glued a fingernail (I'm an ENP in a minor injury unit).

PS Don't use superglue

@PeterPiperPickedSeaShells she gave it a good poke and said there wasnt any injury to the nail bed.

The advice to use clear nail varnish isn't something I've ever come across before.
My instinct would be to cover it with a non fluffy dressing (a proper cotton finger dressing, not the plastic ones) & the nail will grow out. If there has been trauma to the nail bed then this may not be straightforward

I've never heard of using nail varnish either, can't see how it would help.

@PeterPiperPickedSeaShells thank you. I think I will try and get him in to see the practice nurse at our GP tomorrow. Get them to give it a proper check and get advice to cover all eventualities. I think it will take weeks/months to grow out completely.

Thank you all

I'd be very interested to hear what the practice nurse says