Developing virtual simulation games for presimulation preparation: A user-friendly approach for nurse educators

Objective: Engaging presimulation activities are needed to better prepare undergraduate nursing students to participate in clinical simulations. Methods: Design: We created a series of virtual simulation games (VSGs) to enhance presimulation preparation. This involved creating learning outcomes, assessment rubrics, decision point maps with rationale, and filming scripts. Setting: This was a multi-site project involving four universities across Ontario, Canada. Participants: Games were to be embedded within undergraduate nursing courses and used as presimulation preparation before participating in a traditional live simulation.  Four existing bilingual peer-reviewed simulation scenarios were transformed into VSGs to be used for presimulation preparation. The team selected critical decision-points from each scenario to form the basis of each VSG, created filming scripts, and filmed and assembled video clips. Results: Our project generated four bilingual presimulation preparation VSGs with a user-friendly, low-cost VSG design process. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that nurse educators can easily create contextually relevant VSGs addressing program gaps.