Escaping Sepsis: Using a game-based learning approach to innovate nurse education

Aim: The purpose of the ‘Escaping Sepsis’ educational escape room (EER) was to create an innovative learning environment to promote content retention, critical thinking and apply learnt concepts to nursing practice for continued professional development (CPD) in a Victorian metropolitan hospital.
Methods: An education needs assessment was undertaken to identify learning needs of an acute care nursing cohort in early 2023. Based on these results, ‘Identifying sepsis and initiating the Adult Sepsis Pathway’ was highlighted as a knowledge gap. A literature review around active teaching approaches revealed game-based learning is becoming increasingly popular and effective in nursing education, thus an EER was the chosen teaching strategy. The clinical scenario was developed based on the authors clinical experiences and designed to align with intended learning outcomes. These included: 1) identify risk factors, signs, and symptoms of sepsis, 2) demonstrate the initial management of sepsis, 3) evaluate clinical information to provide appropriate nursing care and 4) develop collaborative communication that supports safe decision making. The ERR was piloted with three participants who had a 15-minute time cap to solve riddles, find clues and use clinical information to escape. A further three participants received observer cards to ensure they were also immersed in the content knowledge. Data was collected via feedback forms.
Results: All learners reported the EER strengthened their knowledge and plan to apply new learnings to their clinical practice. Using a Likert scale, over 70% of learners “strongly agreed” the content of the session was useful and interesting. The consensus from the learners was that the EER was fun, informative, and consolidated theoretical and clinical knowledge.
Conclusion: EER’s are an effective and active learning strategy within nursing education that encourages learners to engage, collaborate, enhance critical thinking skills, improve clinical knowledge, and promotes the delivery of safe and high-quality patient care. Keywords: educational escape rooms; game-based learning; innovative nurse education.