ABSTRACT
This chapter describes an educational game that was devised for use by student nurses coming towards the end of their training. Although its focus is concerned with ‘surgical emergencies’, I will argue that the same format can be used in a variety of settings and whenever a large body of factual information needs to be imparted in a short space of time. Traditionally, such information is presented to the students in lecture form: this method is efficient in that it requires less time and ensures that all the students receive the same material together. What it cannot do, however, is ensure that learning takes place, for it cannot guarantee that the students are paying attention to what is being said, let alone that they will be able to remember it. In consequence, this game is an acknowledgement that students learn best when they discover information for themselves. They are allowed a strong measure of control over their own education, but the teacher remains secure in the knowledge that the major learning points are put across.
Evaluation of the game has been very positive to date. Interestingly enough, although its primary objective was to transmit information in a light-hearted way, it has produced a number of side-effects, all of which can be of value to the nurse working in a clinical area.
