The Effect of Serious Games for Nursing Students in Clinical Decision-Making Process: A Pilot Randomized Controlled...

Serious games (SGs) have been proposed as a type of technology-enhanced simulation that may provide nursing students with an opportunity to practice their clinical reasoning and decision-making skills in a realistic and safe environment. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of serious play on nursing students' self-confidence (SC) and anxiety in clinical decision making. The randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of SGs for undergraduate nursing students using pre- and posttests. The study was conducted during nursing students' clinical practice and teaching. All undergraduate nursing students (n = 120) attending internal medicine nursing lesson were approached. Sixty students out of 120 answered the questionnaires at both baseline and follow-up (30 in the experimental group [EG] and 30 in the control group). The students answered the questionnaire after taking the first clinical practice, taking the endocrine course. In the 1 week, the EG played the game and both groups returned to clinical practice. Questionnaire data were collected after clinical application. SC and two subdimensions, using the information in hand to determine the problem, and knowing and taking action, were improved in the intervention group and a significant interaction effect was found for changes over time between the two groups. Anxiety scores between groups were not statistically significant differences. Nursing professional educators can adopt SGs to improve cognitive and attention skills, strengthen judgment, require making time efficient, practice making safe decisions, and encourage the exploration of decision.