Wedding rings and latex gloves

[Geekchick921]

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Hopefully some other married medical students can help me out here. I love my wedding set, but I'm worried it will be a problem with latex gloves. The prongs or the stones can easily catch the rubber and tear it. The band has small diamonds in it and is designed to fit against my engagement ring, and, quite frankly, looks silly by itself. I'm assuming I'm going to be told not to wear them (or any other jewelry, right?) in classes like anatomy (not that I was planning to), and possibly when I am learning to do exams on patients. I'm worried about taking them off when I'm not home because I obviously would not want to lose them.

My husband's band is tungsten carbide and I have been considering getting a second band that matches his for awhile now. The reason is two fold, both my worry about gloves and examining and the fact that I believe I have a nickel allergy that sometimes makes my finger have a reaction to the white gold band on my set. Something simple and would not catch on gloves or anything else, something like this. Will I be allowed to wear something along these lines, that is practically flush with my finger, or should I not even bother with it? Am I over-thinking this entire thing?

Thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[MossPoh]

I think it is just delaying the inevitable. You are going to have to remove your ring at some point. It may not be a problem during physical exams but there are times where it will be, especially since you have to wash your hands before each patient..or are supposed to. I've heard of surgeons or other especially procedure oriented people just putting it on a necklace if they are afraid to part with it.

You DO have to remove it for certain things simply because it is just another bacteria trap.

 

[omgyou8myrice]

Not sure if this helps, but when I was shadowing a surgeon with another student, the surgeon told her it would be a good idea to just put her ring on a chain around her neck (like the person above said). He was doing it himself, and he (obviously) wasn't wearing any sort of ring with big rocks on it that would catch on a glove.

 

[DrMom]

Outside of surgery (anything surgical including OB) you should be able to wear it. You can't wear any rings when scrubbed into surgery. During my surgical rotations I put my rings on my necklace when I was scrubbed in. I wore them outside of the OR.

I wear my wedding rings under gloves at work all the time. Not a big deal.

 

[Smurfette]

Some people also tie their rings into their scrub ties. It works for some, but requires caution when you untie the scrubs to prevent the jewelry from flying across the room (or into sinks, toilets, etc.).

 

[mvenus929]

Outside of surgery (anything surgical including OB) you should be able to wear it. You can't wear any rings when scrubbed into surgery. During my surgical rotations I put my rings on my necklace when I was scrubbed in. I wore them outside of the OR.

In our NICU, you're apparently not supposed to wear anything--rings, watches or otherwise--below your elbow because the babies are so immunocompromised and it is a bacteria trap...

OP, I would personally just put them on a chain around my neck. You can keep track of them that way, but not have to worry about the stones catching on gloves or harboring bacteria or anything.

 

[bioteach]

I never wore my wedding rings during anatomy. My ring is uncomfortable under latex gloves because the stone rotates to between my fingers. One of our professors wore her giant honkin' diamond with her gloves. Whatever makes you the most comfortable in anatomy....

DON'T tie them to your scrub pants...that's a great way to lose them forever. A scrub tech I knew always safety pinned hers to her scrub top and made sure the pin looped under her bra strap as well. That way she could never take her scrub top off without unpinning her rings first. She devised that trick after losing her original wedding rings in the scrubs laundry.

I personally don't have any problem just taking my rings off and leaving them at home. I don't need to have them on 24/7, so I didn't want to risk losing them back constant on/off in surgery or anatomy. During my surgery rotation I just left them in my jewelry box.

Nobody cares what you do with your jewelry in anatomy but in surgery its a no-go. I wouldn't bother getting an entire separate ring, just leave 'em at home on those days.

 

[BigRedder]

One of our scrub techs told a similar story about throwing it in the laundry, and now wears her wedding ring on a clip attached to her ID. I'm not sure if it is specifically designed for the purpose, but it allows her to take it one and off easily without threading it onto a necklace. Everyone else seems to use a necklace though...

 

[tiedyeddog]

This is just for my personal information, male surgeons always take their bands off while scrubbed in, even if they have just plain, solid gold bands?

 

[MilkmanAl]

A wedding ring with a stone will shred your gloves in a hurry and would get all sorts of goop on it during lab anyway. Even just a band will probably be an issue with those crappy gloves. Every surgeon I've been around took his/her wedding ring off during surgery, so just plan on leaving it at home or something during that rotation.

 

[Smurfette]

A wedding ring with a stone will shred your gloves in a hurry and would get all sorts of goop on it during lab anyway. Even just a band will probably be an issue with those crappy gloves. Every surgeon I've been around took his/her wedding ring off during surgery, so just plan on leaving it at home or something during that rotation.

You have to take off all jewelry below the elbow to scrub properly. It doesn't matter if it's just a band or not. This is due to sterility, not due to the gloves themselves. The jewelry harbors bacteria, and the area between your jewelry and your skin (including the inside of your ring) is also not properly cleaned in the scrub process, making it an infection risk.

Also, the metal on your hands can conduct electricity, and there is a risk of burns or fires from the bovie or other equipment.

 

[plauto]

This is just for my personal information, male surgeons always take their bands off while scrubbed in, even if they have just plain, solid gold bands?

Always. You will not be allowed to scrub in with anything on your hands and arms.

 

[MilkmanAl]

You have to take off all jewelry below the elbow to scrub properly. It doesn't matter if it's just a band or not. This is due to sterility, not due to the gloves themselves. The jewelry harbors bacteria, and the area between your jewelry and your skin (including the inside of your ring) is also not properly cleaned in the scrub process, making it an infection risk.

Also, the metal on your hands can conduct electricity, and there is a risk of burns or fires from the bovie or other equipment.

Good points, all around.

 

[Geekchick921]

Sorry for the delayed response.

Thank you all very much for your responses. I am going to ask for a sturdy chain for my rings for our anniversary or my birthday (I do still want to get a tungsten carbide band that matches my husband's, but now I know there's no point in getting it for school). I appreciate all the helpful advice. 🙂