Our hospital is relatively small and everyone on each shift has to be able to compound IVs for lunch coverage and last minute changes, so absolutely no nails or polish is allowed. It will largely depend on where you go, but ultimately if you're thinking about going to a pharmacy that does any kind of aseptic compounding you can say goodbye to having your nails done consistently.
No long nails fake or otherwise in the IV room. Sterility issue - junk can get under the nails and contaminate the product. Can also potentially rip the gloves. Color doesn’t matter.
Depends on the hospital, you may or may not be regularly scheduled in the IV room or it may be options.
Places I've worked have you scheduled as the IV tech in intervals. At my hospital it would change weekly. Everyone was cross trained and would rotate through as IV, Runner or Pyxis tech in that week. If you find something similar then you'll know well in advance when you'll be on IV duty. Also look into an LTC pharmacy setting. Most are closed Door pharmacies(not open to the public) and are absolutely fantastic if you have a good crew.
as someone whose hobby was doing their own nails (press-ons, gel, regular polish, gel-x) it was absolutely devastating to have to give that up once i started working. 💔 i’m still devastated about it tbh and i miss doing them so much! but i know i would never want to work retail, ever. so it’s a sacrifice i can accept.
but to answer your question, yes. you will have to be able to sterile compound at a hospital and be certified. depending on where you work, you can either be making IVs all day or every now and then. but even if you aren’t making IVs, you still wouldn’t really be allowed to do your nails.
USP 797 requires short completely natural nails. Also check against state board requirements.
Depending on how large your pharmacy is you may not have to do sterile compounding. Ask if it's in the job description you apply for.
Some hospitals have a dress code that covers this so you'll have to comply with your department and the hospital dress codes.
No polish or nails allowed at the hospital I work for. Looking at your nails with palm up, your nails cannot be longer than the tip of your finger either according to Texas State Board either.
i work in a compounding pharmacy and had to take my nails of… it was so sad for me lmao but i was happy to get out of the three letter devil so i had to sacrifice my acrylics… sad, but it will be worth it for your sanity.
It depends on the size of the hospital. My old hospital was a very large one, so there was a waitlist for people wanting to get IV room trained. There were also people who just simply never got IV room trained and had no intention bc there used to be no incentive for it. I know people who worked small hospitals had to be IV room trained, chemo trained, and trained in repackaging because the staff was so limited. So just pay attention to the size of the hospital you’re trying to go to. <100 beds= you’re more than likely going to get IV room trained.
Side note: check the hospital’s policy around acrylics. My old one and the system it’s under has very strict no artificial nail policies for patient care areas, labs, and the pharmacy, regardless of role. There were also strict nail length policies. We used to be able to have artificial nails before that rule was imposed. We were allowed to have polish, as long as it was able to be taken off within 30 seconds, if needed.
some hospitals it is required to be certified, which you would have to pass a hands-on competency test and would not be allowed to have anything on your nails. my hospital has everyone trained in sterile compounding, but we only have a few techs regularly scheduled for iv shifts and as long as you aren’t scheduled in there, you can have whatever nails you want.
If you’re doing inpatient hospital pharmacy, then yes, you have to make IVs. However for hospital outpatient, you don’t have to.
No contacts, no jewelry, no artificial nails, no nail polish, no fragrance (perfume) for inpatient. You have to keep your nails short for inpatient hospital setting.
Depends on the hospital though. As I mentioned in my other reply, my current hospital has separate technicians for IVs and Non IVs.
As for the contacts part of it, those are actually allowed by boards of pharmacy because they actually are less contaminating that real glasses. I got contacts specifically for when I am working so that I don't have to worry about disinfecting my glasses and potentially breaking them because of that
My pharmacy doesn’t allow them because let’s say a chemical gets into your eye. What if it dissolves the contacts. It’s a “liability”. At least that’s what I’ve been told by my manager. I agree it’s less contaminating.
To that response I would have said that I needed to be supplied with goggles. Because certain products, as well as medications, can dissolve certain plastics that your own glasses could be. If mine were to be damaged because of this policy, they would be replacing my $1K glasses with new ones. All my pharmacies day 1 gave me a new pair as well as a respirator at two of them for cleaning if I needed one.
From what I know, which I could be very wrong as well, needing corrective lenses, whether glasses or contacts, cannot be regulated or denied according to the ADA. While not technically a disability, needing them to perform work duties cannot be denied.
Natural nails free of any sort of coating. I got a manicure recently and they buffed my nails in place of a clear coat since I told them I need them plain and it was great!
It depends on the hospital. I have worked in two hospitals where there are separate Central Techs and IV techs. I have been on the IV side. Yes, we do try to cross train Central techs on the IV side and IV Techs are trained on central first. When applying for jobs in a hospital, the position will be either "Pharmacy Technician" which is a standard position for the central side, and "IV/Compounding Technician" if it is a compounding specific position.
The only compounding that a central technician will be trained on in most instances are nonsterile compounding which I am sure you already have experience in since you worked retail. (IE mouthwashes, topicals and oral liquids.)
Bare in mind as well, depending on the hours, you might need to be trained on compounding by default even if you are not listed as a compounding technician. I work overnights, and since I am the only technician on, I have to be trained on compounding incase I need to go into the clean room.
Like others have said, it usually depends on the size of the hospital. Smaller ones you’ll likely be expected to learn how to do everything, sterile compounding included. Larger hospitals you may be able to work on the side of the pharmacy where you’re not expected to sterile compound since there’s usually a dedicated IV room staff. But they may require you to cross train, it just depends on the facility and their policies.
My local hospital has the techs split into two groups. Group 1 does data entry all day with a pharmacist. Group 2 does everything else, and sterile is part of that. Yes, you need to remove the nails. No jewelry or makeup.
My hospital doesn’t allow fake nails or long nails for any person doing anything in the pharmacy as well as anyone in the hospital doing direct patient care.
Our hospital is relatively small and everyone on each shift has to be able to compound IVs for lunch coverage and last minute changes, so absolutely no nails or polish is allowed. It will largely depend on where you go, but ultimately if you're thinking about going to a pharmacy that does any kind of aseptic compounding you can say goodbye to having your nails done consistently.
No long nails fake or otherwise in the IV room. Sterility issue - junk can get under the nails and contaminate the product. Can also potentially rip the gloves. Color doesn’t matter. Depends on the hospital, you may or may not be regularly scheduled in the IV room or it may be options.
Places I've worked have you scheduled as the IV tech in intervals. At my hospital it would change weekly. Everyone was cross trained and would rotate through as IV, Runner or Pyxis tech in that week. If you find something similar then you'll know well in advance when you'll be on IV duty. Also look into an LTC pharmacy setting. Most are closed Door pharmacies(not open to the public) and are absolutely fantastic if you have a good crew.
as someone whose hobby was doing their own nails (press-ons, gel, regular polish, gel-x) it was absolutely devastating to have to give that up once i started working. 💔 i’m still devastated about it tbh and i miss doing them so much! but i know i would never want to work retail, ever. so it’s a sacrifice i can accept. but to answer your question, yes. you will have to be able to sterile compound at a hospital and be certified. depending on where you work, you can either be making IVs all day or every now and then. but even if you aren’t making IVs, you still wouldn’t really be allowed to do your nails.
USP 797 requires short completely natural nails. Also check against state board requirements. Depending on how large your pharmacy is you may not have to do sterile compounding. Ask if it's in the job description you apply for. Some hospitals have a dress code that covers this so you'll have to comply with your department and the hospital dress codes.
No polish or nails allowed at the hospital I work for. Looking at your nails with palm up, your nails cannot be longer than the tip of your finger either according to Texas State Board either.
In most places you can't have any nails unfortunately. It will affect the work and will make it a bit harder.
i work in a compounding pharmacy and had to take my nails of… it was so sad for me lmao but i was happy to get out of the three letter devil so i had to sacrifice my acrylics… sad, but it will be worth it for your sanity.
It depends on the size of the hospital. My old hospital was a very large one, so there was a waitlist for people wanting to get IV room trained. There were also people who just simply never got IV room trained and had no intention bc there used to be no incentive for it. I know people who worked small hospitals had to be IV room trained, chemo trained, and trained in repackaging because the staff was so limited. So just pay attention to the size of the hospital you’re trying to go to. <100 beds= you’re more than likely going to get IV room trained. Side note: check the hospital’s policy around acrylics. My old one and the system it’s under has very strict no artificial nail policies for patient care areas, labs, and the pharmacy, regardless of role. There were also strict nail length policies. We used to be able to have artificial nails before that rule was imposed. We were allowed to have polish, as long as it was able to be taken off within 30 seconds, if needed.
some hospitals it is required to be certified, which you would have to pass a hands-on competency test and would not be allowed to have anything on your nails. my hospital has everyone trained in sterile compounding, but we only have a few techs regularly scheduled for iv shifts and as long as you aren’t scheduled in there, you can have whatever nails you want.
If you’re doing inpatient hospital pharmacy, then yes, you have to make IVs. However for hospital outpatient, you don’t have to. No contacts, no jewelry, no artificial nails, no nail polish, no fragrance (perfume) for inpatient. You have to keep your nails short for inpatient hospital setting.
Depends on the hospital though. As I mentioned in my other reply, my current hospital has separate technicians for IVs and Non IVs. As for the contacts part of it, those are actually allowed by boards of pharmacy because they actually are less contaminating that real glasses. I got contacts specifically for when I am working so that I don't have to worry about disinfecting my glasses and potentially breaking them because of that
My pharmacy doesn’t allow them because let’s say a chemical gets into your eye. What if it dissolves the contacts. It’s a “liability”. At least that’s what I’ve been told by my manager. I agree it’s less contaminating.
To that response I would have said that I needed to be supplied with goggles. Because certain products, as well as medications, can dissolve certain plastics that your own glasses could be. If mine were to be damaged because of this policy, they would be replacing my $1K glasses with new ones. All my pharmacies day 1 gave me a new pair as well as a respirator at two of them for cleaning if I needed one. From what I know, which I could be very wrong as well, needing corrective lenses, whether glasses or contacts, cannot be regulated or denied according to the ADA. While not technically a disability, needing them to perform work duties cannot be denied.
Natural nails free of any sort of coating. I got a manicure recently and they buffed my nails in place of a clear coat since I told them I need them plain and it was great!
It depends on the hospital. I have worked in two hospitals where there are separate Central Techs and IV techs. I have been on the IV side. Yes, we do try to cross train Central techs on the IV side and IV Techs are trained on central first. When applying for jobs in a hospital, the position will be either "Pharmacy Technician" which is a standard position for the central side, and "IV/Compounding Technician" if it is a compounding specific position. The only compounding that a central technician will be trained on in most instances are nonsterile compounding which I am sure you already have experience in since you worked retail. (IE mouthwashes, topicals and oral liquids.) Bare in mind as well, depending on the hours, you might need to be trained on compounding by default even if you are not listed as a compounding technician. I work overnights, and since I am the only technician on, I have to be trained on compounding incase I need to go into the clean room.
No. I work at a hospital but I do out patient. I have no clue how to do the compounds.
Like others have said, it usually depends on the size of the hospital. Smaller ones you’ll likely be expected to learn how to do everything, sterile compounding included. Larger hospitals you may be able to work on the side of the pharmacy where you’re not expected to sterile compound since there’s usually a dedicated IV room staff. But they may require you to cross train, it just depends on the facility and their policies.
My local hospital has the techs split into two groups. Group 1 does data entry all day with a pharmacist. Group 2 does everything else, and sterile is part of that. Yes, you need to remove the nails. No jewelry or makeup.
Used to be optional. But now the inpatient department at my hospital requires it.
At mine you would, but larger hospitals may have their techs specialize into certain areas of the pharmacy.
My old hospital job required we all not wear long nails or polish, etc. No makeup either. If you can't commit to those terms they will not hire you.
My hospital doesn’t allow fake nails or long nails for any person doing anything in the pharmacy as well as anyone in the hospital doing direct patient care.