Took a big old gouge out of a thumbnail while bowling. It hasn’t broken away yet, but it threatens to, has really ragged edges, and goes into the nail bed (eww).
Right now, I have a bandage on it, though I can’t imagine it lasts that long, especially since it’s on my dominant hand, the one I wash most often. Any other way to deal with it until the nail grows out? Just the thought of having the nail bed exposed gives me the willies.
Use SuperGlue to keep the nail pieces together as long as possible, while the whole thing grows out. (I can’t tell if soft tissue is exposed? If so, maybe skip my suggestion. It’s only for the hard keratin nail itself.)
If it’s at the end I’d just smooth it off and use the hand gently. If it’s further in, I agree with the advice above about using liquid bandage or nail polish (which are nearly the same thing). And yes, it may sting.
When I used to care about my fingernails I would mend breaks with a little piece of coffee filter and superglue. I used an orange stick to smooth it down, I think a toothpick would work. After it is completely dry you can actually buff it down a little if you want to, to get a smooth surface to polish. I think I used a fine emery board for this. It would last until the nail grew out or until I used nail polish remover on it.