This fall's hot new fashion look for nurses: short fingernails.

By Sept. 1, thousands of nurses, therapists and others who work directly with patients at several Tristate hospitals will be banned from wearing artificial fingernails, or allowing natural nails to grow more than a quarter-inch beyond their fingertips.

"I've talked to some nurses who wear artificial nails who know they have to do this. They're not happy about it, but they understand why they need to do it," says Rhonda Wilson, a nurse manager at Good Samaritan's cardiac care unit.

The policy announced this month by the TriHealth hospital group for Good Samaritan and Bethesda North hospitals reflects updated infection guidelines by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A national hygiene task force found that artificial nails pose a higher infection risk than natural fingernails. In rare cases, the risk can be fatal.

In 1997 and 1998, a bacterial infection killed 16 of 439 babies who were getting intensive care at a hospital in Oklahoma City, Okla. Two nurses - one with artificial nails, another with long natural nails - carried genetically identical bacteria.

"It does sound hard to believe, but there have been several outbreaks of fatal infections caused by these artificial fingernails," said Dr. Stephen Blatt, medical director for infection control at TriHealth.

Many of the Tristate's other 27 acute-care hospitals are developing similar policies.

E-mail tbonfield@enquirer.com