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Paint the Gloves!

Learning about infection, prevention and control (IPC), in the classroom always seems to academic until you get out there and actually have to start thinking about all the practical ways that you need to consider IPC. The obvious ones are hand washing, wearing gloves and cleaning after patient contact etc. (remember those moments of handwashing?!). But when you've got the gloves on...how do you get them off without the muck on the outside going everywhere?!

Adding a bit of paint into the mix makes it really obvious where you've spread whatever is on the glove. All you need is a box of gloves, some paint (probably best to use some nice water-based variety that will come off easily!), a tray or box to put the paint into and then some wipes to clear up the inevitable mess!

Get everyone to put a pair of gloves on and come up to the paint box/tray and dip their hands in to cover the gloves (and gloves only!) with paint. The challenge is then for them to remove the gloves without getting paint on themselves and put the gloves in the awaiting bin. It's a simple as that - but it will get people to practically practice removing gloves without contaminating other things.

Practical Tips:
  • Don't forget to check no-one is likely to be allergic to the paint
  • Be prepared...have a bin bag ready for the used gloves and perhaps lay some newspaper down around the boxes
  • This little exercise will work great as a small part of a longer session on IPC


Comments:
Have you tried this idea out? Let us know how it went or give us your top tips to make it work well! If you are logged in, your usename will be assigned to the comment.
Anonymous:
I've been doing this one for years but instead of paint i just use a little bit of unscented shaving cream! Easy clean up and a little goes a very long way!

Scenario Library:
That's a great idea! Yeah, much easier to clean up than paint! Thanks for the comment :)



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