Academic gaming in nurse education.

This paper describes a study of the usefulness of academic gaming in nurse education. The research has been carried out over the course of 3 years and represents an attempt by a nurse tutor to carry out a study on research lines, during the course of normal working and with a minimum of interference to the normal working of a nurse education department. The study involved psychiatric nurse learners at Winterton Hospital, Sedgefield, Durham and attempted to assess the usefulness of academic gaming by evaluating one academic game which has been designed for nurse learners. This game aims to teach various aspects of the digestive system and digestive processes. The questions which required answers were, can nurse learners learn from academic games? Do they like this method of learning? How does this method compare with other learning methods? Eighty-six learners participated in a test/game/test situation and completed a questionnaire after playing the game. Results suggest that learners can increase their knowledge of the subject by playing the game but it may be most useful as a consolidation method. Learners most often stated that they enjoyed the game and when ranked according to preference, gaming was preferred to film, reading and discussion methods but equally preferred to the lecture method.