Critical Care Orientation Escape Room

Author

Leah Deaton, Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2022

Document Type

DNP Project

Project Team Faculty Member

Amy Hamilton

Project Team Faculty Member

Kay Gaehle

Keywords

escape room, gamification, active learning, nurse education, nurse training, nurse orientation

Abstract

Newly licensed nurses often feel unprepared and lack confidence as they transition from academia to practice. Education Specialists who oversee training programs for newly graduated nurses are challenged to create education modalities that are meaningful, engaging, and promote critical thinking. The purpose of this project was to create an Educational Escape Room to reinforce principles of safe medication administration for new nurses entering critical care areas in a large pediatric hospital. Escape Rooms engage learners through gamification and active-learning principles to improve knowledge synthesis and retention. Eighty-three newly hired critical care RNs participated in the Educational Escape Room during house-wide orientation in 2021. Hospital educators and Quality and Safety liaisons identified the Escape Room learning objectives to align with hospital safety metrics and needs. Based on survey data, all learners felt that the Educational Escape Room met the identified objectives including high engagement, utilization of medication error mitigation strategies, and increased confidence in future medication administration. Due to early project success, exposure to the Educational Escape Room was expanded to include all newly hired Registered and Graduate Nurses in the hospital as a part of hospital-wide nursing orientation starting in January of 2022. Educational Escape Rooms are a highly engaging immersive learning modality that can increase confidence and competence in newly graduated Registered Nurses thereby easing their transition from academia to practice. Escape Rooms can also be easily replicated and adapted to help learners negotiate a myriad of learning gaps in a plethora of clinical settings.

Recommended Citation

Deaton, Leah, "Critical Care Orientation Escape Room" (2022). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 200.
https://spark.siue.edu/dnpprojects/200

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