Gaming the System: Developing an Educational Game for Securing Principles of Arterial Blood Gases

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Game Design
• Nursing Education

Background:

• Arterial blood gas (ABG) interpretation is a critical nursing skill.
• Traditional learning methods may not fully engage all students.
• Digital educational games offer a novel approach to skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of a digital educational mini game prototype for arterial blood gas principles.
• To gather feedback on the prototype's design, play, and content through iterative playtesting.

Main Methods:

• An interdisciplinary team mentored students in game development.
• Sixteen accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students collaborated and playtested the prototype.
• Feedback was collected via surveys and group discussions over four iterative rounds.

Main Results:

• Playtester feedback indicated the mini game prototype is engaging and playful.
• The prototype shows potential for reinforcing fundamental arterial blood gas principles.
• Iterative design, incorporating student feedback, was crucial for development.

Conclusions:

• The digital educational mini game prototype demonstrates promise for enhancing ABG learning.
• Further testing is needed to evaluate the game's teaching and learning effectiveness.