Abstract
Background: Early progression of newly registered nurses into leadership roles is commonplace in clinical settings. Nurses and student nurses can prepare for leadership by gaining exposure through simulation-based learning. A novel and expanding modality are game-based learning (GBL) simulation. Nurse leaders play a crucial role during pandemics, guiding their teams through crises and ensuring effective response strategies. Reviewing the literature to identify the content, structure, and effectiveness of current pandemic preparedness and GBL simulation in nursing education is necessary to identify lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic response to guide workforce preparation for future surge planning. Aim: The aim of this narrative review was to explore the literature regarding current pandemic preparedness and GBL simulation in nursing education. Methods: This narrative review was conducted in accordance with the sequence outlined by Gregory and Denniss (2018). The review process adhered to the PRISMA protocol and used the population, concept, and context (PCC) framework to define inclusion and exclusion criteria. A search of five major healthcare databases: CINAHL Ultimate (EBSCO), Medline (Ovid), APA PsycInfo, Web of Science, and Scopus was supplemented with a grey literature search via Google Scholar. Results: Screening and review identified 48 manuscripts that met inclusion criterion. Analysis revealed variation in duration of pandemic preparedness programs (n = 30 articles), theoretical versus practical content, and face-to-face or online modes of delivery. GBL simulation (n = 18 articles) was revealed as an emerging modality in nursing education curriculum. Discussion: Existing learning strategies in use within the nursing field comprise a raft of various teaching methods which facilitate preparedness of nurses for pandemics, leadership and workforce shortages. Despite implementation challenges such as considerable resource investment and ongoing maintenance, GBL simulation achieves significant improvements in knowledge, confidence, engagement, motivation and skill acquisition among nurses and nursing students. Conclusion: There is limited evidence describing pandemic preparedness training of nursing students via GBL simulation. Further research is needed to identify if GBL simulation of real-world pandemic scenarios in a low-risk setting could provide learning benefit through integration into nursing education curricula.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Volume
156
PubMed ID
41066926
Publication Title
Nurse Education Today
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Nursing and Midwifery / School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
88031
Funders
Department of Health, Government of Western Australia
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Andrews, S. J., Gallagher, O., Miles, A., Crevacore, C., & Mills, B. (2025). Nursing leadership and pandemic preparedness via game-based learning simulation: A narrative review (registered nurses and undergraduate nursing students). Nurse Education Today, 156, 106888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2025.106888