Escaping traditional instruction: The use of escape room simulation to enhance nursing students' clinical judgment skills

Introduction: Clinical judgment is foundational in nursing to maintain safe patient care, yet students rarely get the opportunity to fully evolve this skill. Alternative teaching strategies of simulation and game -based learning can provide students with the experiences necessary to advance clinical judgment skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an escape room simulation on student clinical judgment skills. Methods: Nursing student perceived clinical judgment levels were measured using the 10 -question Skalsky Clinical Judgment Scale (SCJS) in a quantitative quasi -experimental study with a pre/post-test approach. Results: A paired t -test revealed a statistically signi ficant increase in SCJS survey scores from the presurvey total ( M = 32.3, SD = 3.86) to the postsurvey total ( M = 35.8, SD = 4.32), t (43)=-5.41, p = < .001 (two -tailed). Discussion: Findings support nurse faculty using an escape room simulation to promote the progression of clinical judgment skills in students. (c) 2024 Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.