Simulations
Simulations represent imitations of real-life events or circumstances, which can be used to replicate a clinical scenario and facilitate practicing skills in a mock situation (Eyikara & Baykara, 2017). Simulations are considered to be more realistic than games and less fun to use. Simulations excel at supporting nonlinear, dynamic content, which encourages learners to engage in complex analysis and decision-making within a dynamic environment.
Visual Worlds (VWs)
Virtual Worlds are three dimensional environments in which one appears as an avatar and can interact with others (Bauman, 2017). Virtual worlds usually have no set goals or competition. They are used for exploratory learning and social interaction.
VWs represent a promising technology with immersive media richness to bring social activities closer to real-life experiences. Enable nurses and patents to take advantage of emerging technologies (Bauman, 2017). Address the increasing demands of out-of-hospital care models. Nurse-patient connections are vital in maintaining quality and efficiency of care. Play a significant role in enabling student nurses attain their goals aided by Internet-based technologies.
Game Mechanics
Game Mechanics are defined by McGonigle and Mastrian (2021) as the rules, instructions, directions, and constructs that the learner interacts with while playing the game. It is due to games being goal oriented and often competitive in nature (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). Nevertheless, games should be fun to play and light-hearted. Games are goal-oriented and rule-based events that engage players through consequence. The consequences provide a system of rewards for achievement within the game and often provide a negative repercussion for actions that do not subscribe to the goals or rules of the game. The consequences found in games, particularly videogames, are often driven by game mechanics.
Current Use in Nursing Education
Constant development of the nursing informatics encourages nursing educators to look for new educational tools and implement simulation, Games and Virtual Worlds as some of the educational methods. These tools provide an efficient, effective and engaging educational experience for students. Today’s games, simulations, applications, and digital environments are on track to useful ubiquity, following in the footsteps of what we now accept as systems and components of contemporary sims.
Recent advances in technology have led to an explosion of sophisticated multi-media and digital educational content. Furthermore, although manikin-based simulators remain relatively expensive, delivery platforms that support complex digital environments, videogames, and mobile apps are increasingly more accessible and affordable to students, faculty, and researchers.
Future Use in Nursing Education
Nurse educators who vet, then embrace game-based learning, mobile apps, and virtual reality are in position to advance clinical curricula to better prepare students for modern and future practice. Best practices will continue to evolve while researchers create a body of evidence to support the integration of innovative multi-media technology for clinical education.
Effectiveness
Game mechanics allow the player to interact with the game or within the game environment. They work to engage learners within the digital environment and promote progress within the game experience. Nurse educators perceive simulations, videogames, and virtual environments as part of a layered learning model. Learning has become increasingly mobile, and less emphasis is placed on the physical location in which learning takes place. Best practices related to the integration of game-based teaching and learning and other innovative technologies related to nursing and clinical sciences curricula remain a moving target.
Limitations
Think of a simulation as the imitation of something that is real. Sims represent key design elements or variables of a system or process that occur in the real world. Whether recreated in a theatrical manner in a created space, such as a bricks-and-mortar simulation laboratory or with a computer in a digital space, simulation uses artificial history or narrative to support and recreate real-world paradigms. The process is relatively costly and require infrastructural support from the service-provider.
References
- Bauman, E. B. (2017). Games, virtual environments, mobile applications and a futurist’s crystal ball. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 12(4), 109-114. Web.
- Eyikara, E., & Baykara, Z. G. (2017). undefined. World Journal on Educational Technology: Current Issues, 9(1), 02-07. Web.
- McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2021). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.