Home Medicine The effect of a hybrid educational escape room on undergraduate nursing students’ nursing process knowledge
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The effect of a hybrid educational escape room on undergraduate nursing students’ nursing process knowledge

  • Iñigo Lorenzo Ruiz ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Garazi Monasterio Gangoiti ORCID logo and Itziar Hoyos Cillero ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: January 9, 2006
International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship
From the journal International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship Volume 22 Issue 1

Abstract

Objectives

This study examined differences in declarative knowledge acquisition between a hybrid educational escape room and traditional lecture-based learning (LBL), and explored students’ experiences with the gamified intervention.

Methods

A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was conducted with 152 second-year nursing students. The experimental group completed a hybrid escape room combining on-site and digital tasks, while the control group received LBL. Declarative knowledge was assessed in both groups, and game-related experiences were measured in the experimental group.

Results

Students in the experimental group showed significantly greater improvements in learning outcomes compared to those in the control group. Participants also reported positive experiences, including enjoyment, activation, creative thinking, autonomy and absorption.

Conclusions

Hybrid educational escape rooms can enhance learning outcomes while fostering positive learning experiences. Implications for international audience: Hybrid escape rooms may be effective across diverse educational systems, suggesting that knowledge gains can occur independently of changes in motivation or subjective enjoyment.

Keywords: nursing students; learning outcomes; educational escape room; learning experience
Corresponding author: Iñigo Lorenzo Ruiz, PhD, RN, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, Department of Nursing I, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena, s/n, 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain, E-mail:

Funding source: Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

  1. Research ethics: The “Ethics Committee for Research Related to Human Beings (CEISH)” authorised the study (M10_2023_299). The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013).

  2. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  3. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, I.L.R., upon reasonable request.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2025-0024).

Received: 2025-02-26
Accepted: 2025-12-29
Published Online: 2006-01-09

© 2026 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Association between admission criteria to nurse practitioner program in Israel and academic success: a retrospective study analysis
  2. Innovative strategies for supporting disadvantaged nursing students in rural areas
  3. Literature Reviews
  4. Higher education nursing students’ literacy skills: a scoping review
  5. Predictors of classroom exams, standardized exams, and nursing licensure exams in U.S. and international undergraduate RN and PN nursing programs: a scoping review
  6. Transfer of learning in baccalaureate nursing education: a systematic scoping review
  7. Research Articles
  8. The effect of a hybrid educational escape room on undergraduate nursing students’ nursing process knowledge
  9. Use of simulation-based education to enhance clinical judgment among prelicensure nursing students
  10. A computer-based educational program for promoting student cultural competence
  11. 10.1515/ijnes-2025-0037
  12. Immersive virtual reality simulation: engagement and clinical judgment
  13. Exploring nurse faculty perceptions of notetaking
  14. Exploring the link of educational environment and self-esteem with critical thinking in undergraduate nursing university students: a cross-sectional study
  15. Navigating global mobility: a comparative study of nursing education in Nepal and Australia
  16. The impact of simulation-based ethical education on nursing students’ moral distress levels
  17. Affective learning assessment of beginning nursing students
  18. Examining perspectives of instructors and students on the instruction of care plans within the nursing process – a qualitative inquiry
  19. The Doctoral Seminar in nursing: an exploration of the literature and trends found in Canadian syllabi
  20. Deliberate practice of medication administration among nursing students: a pilot study
  21. Canadian nursing students and education in medical and recreational cannabis: a preliminary evidence
  22. Flourishing in nursing: positive factors that contributed to mental wellbeing of nursing students in Thailand
  23. Exploring the perceptions of practical nursing students on caring for the older person
  24. Nurse educators’ experience in implementing concept-based curriculum: a phenomenology study
  25. Perception of nursing students on nursing teamwork in hospitals in Slovakia: a cross-sectional study
  26. Lived experiences of international nursing students regarding the studying challenges: a phenomenology study
  27. Educational Process, Issue, Trend
  28. Nursing student needs assessment and preferences for faculty-led mentoring
  29. Pedagogical matters: a dialogue of diverse persons, perspectives, and programs
  30. Effects of cooperative learning on undergraduate nursing students: a quasi- experimental study
  31. Corrigendum
  32. Corrigendum to: Pedagogical matters: a dialogue of diverse persons, perspectives, and programs, International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, vol. 22, no. 1, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2024-0034
https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2025-0024
Keywords for this article
nursing students; learning outcomes; educational escape room; learning experience

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Association between admission criteria to nurse practitioner program in Israel and academic success: a retrospective study analysis
  2. Innovative strategies for supporting disadvantaged nursing students in rural areas
  3. Literature Reviews
  4. Higher education nursing students’ literacy skills: a scoping review
  5. Predictors of classroom exams, standardized exams, and nursing licensure exams in U.S. and international undergraduate RN and PN nursing programs: a scoping review
  6. Transfer of learning in baccalaureate nursing education: a systematic scoping review
  7. Research Articles
  8. The effect of a hybrid educational escape room on undergraduate nursing students’ nursing process knowledge
  9. Use of simulation-based education to enhance clinical judgment among prelicensure nursing students
  10. A computer-based educational program for promoting student cultural competence
  11. 10.1515/ijnes-2025-0037
  12. Immersive virtual reality simulation: engagement and clinical judgment
  13. Exploring nurse faculty perceptions of notetaking
  14. Exploring the link of educational environment and self-esteem with critical thinking in undergraduate nursing university students: a cross-sectional study
  15. Navigating global mobility: a comparative study of nursing education in Nepal and Australia
  16. The impact of simulation-based ethical education on nursing students’ moral distress levels
  17. Affective learning assessment of beginning nursing students
  18. Examining perspectives of instructors and students on the instruction of care plans within the nursing process – a qualitative inquiry
  19. The Doctoral Seminar in nursing: an exploration of the literature and trends found in Canadian syllabi
  20. Deliberate practice of medication administration among nursing students: a pilot study
  21. Canadian nursing students and education in medical and recreational cannabis: a preliminary evidence
  22. Flourishing in nursing: positive factors that contributed to mental wellbeing of nursing students in Thailand
  23. Exploring the perceptions of practical nursing students on caring for the older person
  24. Nurse educators’ experience in implementing concept-based curriculum: a phenomenology study
  25. Perception of nursing students on nursing teamwork in hospitals in Slovakia: a cross-sectional study
  26. Lived experiences of international nursing students regarding the studying challenges: a phenomenology study
  27. Educational Process, Issue, Trend
  28. Nursing student needs assessment and preferences for faculty-led mentoring
  29. Pedagogical matters: a dialogue of diverse persons, perspectives, and programs
  30. Effects of cooperative learning on undergraduate nursing students: a quasi- experimental study
  31. Corrigendum
  32. Corrigendum to: Pedagogical matters: a dialogue of diverse persons, perspectives, and programs, International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, vol. 22, no. 1, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2024-0034
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