Enhancing the Graduate Nursing Student Experience Through Gamification

Gamification, the use of game-styled learning methods in non-game contexts, encourages student participation, increases learning motivation, and maximizes the amount of information students can retain. An intervention was designed utilizing gamification principles to reinforce material learned during a week-long regional anesthesia intensive. Students participated in team-based competitions consisting of knowledge-based questions, critical thinking, and hands-on ultrasound skills. Anonymous survey results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in post-intervention student knowledge, confidence, and motivation. This project's impact may encourage the integration of gamification in nursing education to increase student motivation and confidence while providing feedback to decrease knowledge gaps.