Effective Method for Nurses Education: Gaming versus Lecturing

INTRODUCTION: There were many educational methods used in teaching nursing students and nursing staff, such as traditional lecturing and game-based learning; there was no consensus in the literature on the best teaching method. The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of game-based learning versus traditional lecturing on the knowledge acquisition of newly employed nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pretest and posttest quasi-experimental was used to conduct this study in an oncology center located in Amman, Jordan. 156 newly employed nurses participated in the study, 70 in the lecture group, and 86 in the game group, nurses from both groups were assigned to each learning group according to their employment time during orientation period (first month of employment). For lecture group, new employed nurses were assigned in two different times. For the game group, new employed nurses were assigned in four different times. We use an instrument composed of fifteen questions measuring nurse’s knowledge acquisition regarding pressure injury, this instrument was used as pretest and posttest for both learning groups. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores in the lecture group (P= < 0.001), and there was a significant mean difference between pretest and posttest scores in the game group (P= < 0.001), which indicates that both educational methods had a positive impact on nurse’s knowledge. However, there was a significant mean difference between the posttest scores between game group and lecture group to the favor of the lecture group (mean=8.17, 9.00 respectively, P =0.003). DISCUSSION: The current study showed that lecture was more effective than the game in knowledge acquisition. More studies with a larger sample are needed to evaluate the game’s effectiveness as an educational method versus lecture.