Leveling Up: A Video Game for Critical Care Nursing Education

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Nursing Education
• Gamification in Healthcare

Background:

• Continuing education for intensive care unit (ICU) nurses presents challenges in accessibility and time efficiency.
• Gamified learning offers a potentially engaging and time-efficient alternative for professional development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a role-playing video game in enhancing ICU nurses' knowledge of train-of-four monitoring.
• To assess ICU nurses' attitudes towards gamified learning as an educational modality.

Main Methods:

• A single-arm, pretest-posttest study design was employed with 17 surgical ICU nurses.
• Participants completed an eight-item knowledge test before and after a 15-minute tablet-based gamified intervention focused on clinical decision-making.
• A postgame survey assessed participant engagement, usability, and perceived educational effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Mean scores on the train-of-four monitoring test significantly improved from 3.41 to 7.12 (p < .001).
• The gamified intervention was highly rated: 88.2% found it engaging, 94.1% found it easy to use, and 100% deemed it educationally effective.
• Qualitative feedback highlighted the game's relevance and interactivity.

Conclusions:

• A brief gamified learning intervention effectively improved ICU nurses' knowledge of train-of-four monitoring.
• Gamification demonstrates potential as a valuable and well-received tool for clinical nursing education.