The escape room experience: Exploring new ways to deliver interprofessional education

ABSTRACT

Interprofessional education is a key component of preparing health professional students to become collaborative practice-ready graduates. In the design and delivery of activities, educators seek ways to enhance student participation and learning with the goal of developing students’ collaborative practice capabilities. Traditionally, learning formats have largely maintained a clinical focus to enable students to learn with, from and about each other’s roles as health professionals. In recent years, escape rooms have emerged as an innovative teaching approach within interprofessional education. Utilising gamification, escape rooms require students to work collaboratively, employing teamwork, communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills to ‘escape’ a set scenario. This article explores our experience of using escape rooms as an interprofessional education strategy. Additionally, we report on trialling a non-clinical focus within the activity as an alternative means of educating students for collaborative practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• student
• health
• escape room

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge Leigh Moore and Narelle Campbell who kindly shared their insights and experience in developing and implementing escape rooms with the project team. We acknowledge Kerrie Wisely and Jenny Norris for their assistance in designing an escape room scenario, and Lani Carter and Dr. Lauren Cone for both scenario design and development of this concept.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The UONDRH received an internal teaching and innovation grant from the University of Newcastle for the purchase of equipment such as locks and puzzles. University of Newcastle Australia.

Notes on contributors

Jane Ferns

Jane Ferns - Jane is a Lecturer in Interprofessional Practice at the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health, Taree, Australia. Her research interests include interprofessional education and collaborative practice and features of quality in rural health placements.

Natasha Hawkins

Natasha Hawkins - Tash is a PhD Candidate and Nursing Academic for the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health. Her research interests include new graduate nurse transition to practice, workplace culture, rural nursing recruitment and retention, and interprofessional practice.

Alexandra Little

Alexandra Little - Alexandra is a Lecturer in Speech Pathology at the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health, Tamworth, Australia. Her research interests include clinical reasoning, longitudinal workforce outcomes for students undertaking rural clinical placements, creative practices within qualitative research, innovation within interprofessional education and collaborative practice.

Mohammad Hamiduzzaman

Khoka Hamiduzzaman - Following on from his position as a Research Fellow at The University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health, Dr Mohammad Hamiduzzaman is currently a Faculty of Health Lecturer at Southern Cross University. His key role is to lead health services research that meets communities’ needs, including improving access to mental health services in rural areas.