Nurse creates Poopology Game to improve diarrhoea management in care settings.
Ahead of World Hand Hygiene Day in May, an exciting new board game has been launched by Focus Games in partnership with Infection Prevention & Control nurses at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Good infection prevention and control practices are essential in all health and social care settings and are particularly important when individuals have diarrhoea. The Poopology Game is a unique approach to staff training on the effective management of people with diarrhoea, designed for health and social care staff working in hospital, nursing/residential and domiciliary care settings.
It helps staff discuss and explore best practice in the management of diarrhoea to minimise the spread of infection and improve patient care.
The Poopology Game was originally developed by senior nurse Allison Sykes and the Infection Prevention & Control Team at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who have been using it to educate staff for the last 5 years:
“The Poopology Game is a great tool to engage staff and embed knowledge, while also bringing fun into teaching sessions. It will help people working in hospitals, nursing & residential care homes and domiciliary care settings to understand how their actions can minimise the spread of infection and ensure people are cared for effectively.” Allison Sykes
Lucia Pareja-Cebrian, Head of Infection Prevention & Control at Newcastle Hospitals, said:
“Engaging staff to increase knowledge of the correct management of patients with diarrhoea across all care settings is vital to reduce the spread of infection. The Poopology game is an excellent and innovative way to achieve this by making education interactive. It’s also such fun to play.”
Following its success in Newcastle, the game has been developed and refined by Focus Games and is now available for purchase at an initial launch price of £40 at www.poopologygame.co.uk.
The Poopology Game is flexible resource that can be used by groups of up to 8 student and qualified health and social care staff working in a variety of settings. Before the game, the group can select which pack of cards to play with based on where they work – Hospital, Residential/Nursing or Domiciliary care.
Topics explored by the game include:
• Hand hygiene
• Identifying diarrhoea & taking stool samples
• Documenting & reporting diarrhoea
• Cleaning of environment and equipment
• Isolation procedures
• Handling laundry
If you’d like to learn more about the game and buy a copy for your organisation, visit www.poopologygame.co.uk or follow the game on Twitter @PoopologyGame
