Escape Tasks: An Innovative Approach in Nursing Education

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Active Learning Strategies
• Healthcare Simulation

Background:

• Innovative teaching methods are crucial for enhancing nursing student performance in academic and clinical settings.
• Active learning strategies, such as escape rooms, offer a unique approach to nursing education.
• Integrating novel pedagogical tools can improve the overall learning experience for nursing students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide practical implementation steps for incorporating escape room activities into a baccalaureate nursing program.
• To assess the effectiveness of escape room tasks in developing Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies.
• To explore the potential of escape rooms as an active learning tool in nursing curricula.

Main Methods:

• Development of thirteen escape room tasks by faculty and a dean.
• Tasks designed to foster Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies.
• Implementation with seven senior nursing students to encourage critical thinking beyond traditional settings.

Main Results:

• Students reported enhanced critical thinking, collaboration, and knowledge acquisition.
• Participants expressed enjoyment of the group work and hands-on nature of the escape room challenges.
• Escape room tasks were found to be an effective active learning strategy.

Conclusions:

• Escape room tasks serve as effective active learning strategies for developing QSEN competencies in nursing students.
• The 13 escape room tasks presented are easily implementable by nurse educators.
• This approach offers future opportunities for designing curriculum-aligned escape room activities in nursing education.