Making of dressing materials

Authors: Rednenko V.V., Rednenko L.I., Poplavets E.V., Makarova O.S.

Editor: Rednenko V.V.

Equipment for the practical skill:

• a wide table covered with plastic or oilcloth (this table is not used for other purposes);
• gauze;
• cotton wool;
• bandages;
• wooden or plastic sticks 15-20 cm long;
• scissors;
• gloves.

Clinical situation:

• You are a nurse at a hospital department. Make a different kind of dressing

Order of the skill performance:

Making of cotton balls

• Perform a hygienic hand wash. (see practical skill "Hygienic hand washing")
• Take a roll of cotton wool

• Pinch off a small portion of cotton

• Fold your left hand in such a way to form a depression between your fingers and palm

• Place the piece of cotton wool onto the depression

• "Stick" pieces of cotton wool into the depression with the second finger of your right hand

• Fold cotton wool balls into bag

Making of gauze pads

• Perform a hygienic hand wash. (see practical skill "Hygienic hand washing")
• Put on gloves
• Take a standard piece of gauze 100x70 cm

• Make desision of gauze pad size. Gauze pads are made from pieces of gauze (bandage) in size:
  • large (70x50 cm),
  • medium (50x35 cm),
  • small (35x25 cm).
• Cut by scissors the piece of gauze by selected size

• Fold the edges of the gauze inward by 3-5 cm

• Fold the pad inward widthwise until the sides touch each other and then in half.

• Tie the prepared gauze pads in a stack of 10 or 20.

Making of gauze balls

• Perform a hygienic hand wash. (see practical skill "Hygienic hand washing")
• Put on gloves
• Take a standard piece of gauze 100x70 cm
• Make desision of gauze ball size. Gauze balls are made from pieces of gauze (bandage) in size:
• large (10x12 or 18x18 cm),
• medium (8x10 cm),
• small (6x8 cm),
• "fly" (5x5 or 2x2 cm)
• Use scissors to cut a standard-sized piece of gauze into pieces of the chosen size
• Fold the gauze cloth 3-4 cm inward

• Fold the edges longitudinally to form a strip

• Lay the gauze strip on the nail phalanges of the 2nd and 3rd fingers of the left hand and wrap the nail phalanges once so that a "bow" is formed.

• Remove the strip from your fingers and tuck the ends into the hole at the base of the bow one by one.

• Tie the balls into a gauze cloth or bag of 50 pieces.