What it means
Nails protect the fingertips and help with fine tasks. The pink nail bed beneath shows blood flow, which is why nails are used to check capillary refill. Nail changes can reflect illness: clubbing (rounded, bulging nail ends) with long-term low oxygen, spoon-shaped nails with iron-deficiency anemia, and bluish nail beds with poor oxygenation.
For the nurse
Check the color of the nail beds and capillary refill (normally under 2 to 3 seconds). Long or artificial nails hold germs, so health care workers keep natural nails short and do not wear artificial nails. Dark polish can interfere with a fingertip pulse oximeter reading.
At a glance
| Spanish | uña |
|---|---|
| Also written | fingernails |
Related terms
pulse oximetry
A painless test that uses light through a finger, toe or earlobe to estimate how much oxygen the blood is carrying.
cyanosis
A blue or gray color of the skin, lips or nail beds.
onych/o
A word root that means nail (of a finger or toe).