Thanks to a donation from the Falkowski-Harman Family, the WVU School of Nursing Keyser Campus recently purchased a simulation game called Friday Night at the ER to help students practice healthcare scenarios in a fun and engaging way.
The game teaches students about managing a busy hospital for 24 hours, with a focus on providing high-quality but cost-effective, time-efficient care. The game tests players’ teamwork, collaboration and critical thinking skills as they make and see real-time results of system-based decisions from ER admissions through various departments, including surgery, critical care, and step-down.
Dr. Kasey Beckman-Sirk, a faculty member who teaches critical care, had her family, then six senior Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) student volunteers pilot the game before integrating it into the NSG 460 curriculum.
“It was rewarding to see our students playing Friday Night at the ER. They worked through many challenges, including unexpected admissions, need for more staffing, and time pressures, all while having fun and learning in this simulated environment,” said Dr. April Shapiro, Keyser Campus Chair. “We anticipate many benefits from this game and are so thankful to the Falkowski-Harman Family for making this purchase possible for us.”
The six students who helped pilot the game were Jessica Bingaman, JJ Blank, Marissa Guy, McKenna Myers, Coby Ridgeway, and Alyssa Wilson. In a survey, all participants strongly agreed that this was a valuable learning experience.
In the survey, one of the student volunteers said, “Learning to juggle patients and make room for them all, plus the addition of the ‘events,’ was certainly difficult, but fun!”
Another said, “This was simulating a real-life experience of transfers and admissions to a hospital. It gave a real feel of report and communication with transfers. Also, figuring out costs just by bringing in more employees for one day was interesting.”
Gifts to the WVU School of Nursing are awarded via the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.