New board game developed by Clinical Teachers

Lucy Tyler and Rhiannon Eley, both Clinical Teachers in the Department of Adult Nursing have developed a new teaching and training tool for students and qualified nurses to aid clinical decision making. The Priorities Board game is set in a typical hospital ward, and players must use prioritisation, clinical reasoning and decision making skills to manage the ward for a shift.

Lucy and Rhiannon said: 

“We have found that students often lack the confidence and opportunity to practice and reflect upon skills like prioritisation and decision making in a busy clinical environment but are expected to qualify with these skills. We hope that through learning about and developing these skills in a fun way, The Priorities Game will assist nurses of the future to be safe and effective practitioners.”

The game is for up to eight players, encouraging collaborative learning. Each player takes on the role of a member of ward staff and must achieve a target number of admissions and discharges before the end of their shift, as well as managing ongoing patient care. They will be presented with a variety of tasks and challenges, and must work together to make decisions. 

The game was launched with an event earlier in the month, where students and staff were able to play it.

“It is just like real life; you think you’re ready to do a task and finish, and then something else comes up and you have to decide what is more important, what do I need to do first.” Third Year Nursing Student 

“Team work was key to completing the game which I liked as well as the unpredictability of the action cards - that was fun and reflected real practice." Third Year Nursing Student

Find out more about the game on the Priorities Game website. You can watch a video about the game on YouTube.