Development of a Serious Game to Simulate Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Experiences: Collaborative Quasi-Experimental...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Serious Games in Healthcare
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Simulation

Background:

• Limited clinical training opportunities in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) due to patient safety and complexity.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the need for alternative, immersive educational tools.
• Existing serious games rarely simulate the full NICU environment and its challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive serious game simulating the NICU.
• To evaluate the educational value and user experience of this simulation tool.
• To address educational gaps in neonatal care training for students and the public.

Main Methods:

• Collaborative development of a 6-chapter visual novel game, "First Steps in the NICU," by a neonatologist and students.
• Game redeveloped in Unity with Naninovel for multilingual support and released on multiple platforms.
• Post-game web-based surveys assessed gameplay, educational value, and user demographics using Likert scales and statistical analysis.

Main Results:

• "First Steps in the NICU" achieved 2799 downloads across iOS, Android, and Steam.
• 160 survey responses indicated high ratings for empathy (4.24), knowledge acquisition (4.16), and serious games as learning tools (4.37).
• No significant differences in evaluation between healthcare professionals/students and the general public, demonstrating broad appeal.

Conclusions:

• A low-cost, collaborative serious game effectively simulates NICU experiences.
• The game demonstrates significant educational value and positive reception across diverse user groups.
• This formative research highlights serious games as a viable supplement for neonatal care education.