1. What?

2. So what?

3. Now what?

   
   

   Developed by Driscoll in 1994, 2004 and 2007. Driscoll studied the three stem questions which were initially asked by Terry Boston in 1970.

Adia Rose-Berry Mental Health Student 21396437

The escape room activity was an enlightening activity that highlighted the importance of communication and teamwork. It required us to articulate our thoughts clearly, listen actively, and negotiate solutions, all of which are essential skills in mental health practice. The escape room was designed to simulate real-life scenarios where effective collaboration and clear communication are crucial for success. This activity not only tested our problem-solving skills but also highlighted the dynamics of working as a cohesive unit under pressure.

I found the escape room to be a well-balanced blend of activities in each room, with each task being unexpected and contributing to the enhancement of our time management skills. This diversity in tasks was instrumental in honing our time management skills, a critical competency in the nursing profession. The necessity to prioritize tasks and allocate time efficiently underlined the importance of these skills in real-world nursing scenarios, where timely decision-making can significantly impact patient outcomes.

The time limit added an element of urgency, compelling us to think and act swiftly under pressure. This aspect of the escape room mirrored the high-stakes environment of healthcare settings, where nurses often need to make quick, informed decisions. The ability to remain calm and focused while managing stress is crucial in nursing, particularly in mental health settings where situations can rapidly evolve. This experience reinforced the importance of developing resilience and adaptability, qualities that are essential for effective nursing practice.

Each team member brought unique skills and perspectives to the table, mirroring the multidisciplinary nature of healthcare teams. This diversity in skills and viewpoints is essential in mental health nursing, where complex patient needs often require input from various professionals. The activity highlighted the importance of recognizing and valuing each team member's contributions, which is something I will carry forward into my practice. By fostering an environment where all voices are heard, we can ensure comprehensive care plans that address all aspects of a patient's well-being.

One of the most rewarding aspects of this activity was the opportunity it provided to get to know my teammates better and build stronger connections with them. This experience is invaluable as we continue our studies and prepare for our future roles as mental health nurses. the escape room nursing activity was not only an enjoyable and engaging experience but also a valuable opportunity to strengthen the connections with my teammates,
In conclusion, the escape room activity during simulation week was an invaluable learning experience that reinforced the importance of teamwork and communication in mental health nursing. By applying these skills in my future practice, I aim to contribute to a collaborative healthcare environment that prioritizes patient safety and quality care.

Name: Anjola Williams

Student ID: 25001198

Due to the patient flatlining, this was a very intense moment, therefore, it was important that each of us had good time management skills to allow us to bring the patient back to life. In fast-paced scenarios, it is important that us nurses know how to use our time efficiently as this can cost a patient’s life. High-pressure situations can lead to panic and disorganization, therefore, a well-functioning team can efficiently assess the situation and act immediately.

After this room, we went into another room as we needed to find the belt that the patient had told us to find. The room was designed as a hospital with three patients lying on hospital beds. There was an actor in the same room acting very distressed asking for medication to get rid of the beeping sounds. After this scenario was finished, we quickly realized that the actor was used a distraction as we will have encounters like this in the mental health hospital. Nurses will be faced with distractions whilst trying to complete a task, therefore, it is important that as a team, some will help to finish one task while the other half will calm the distressed patient.

This was a significant scenario because we got taught about one of the interactions that we may encounter in future practices as a nurse. This plays a role in the time management skills team-working as we had a timer to find the belt for the keys and find out what will happen next. These two scenarios were very useful because my team didn’t know what we were stepping into, which I believe will happen in the nursing career. Everyday will be a different day for nurses, therefore, this has helped me, and my team gain more insight in real-life scenarios.

Gaining time management and team working skills from this simulation day will help to provide efficient, high-quality and safe care for the patient in my future practices. I found that being calm, focused and organized with my team helps to improve response time and patient outcomes. Mental health nursing involves multi-disciplinary teams therefore, timely communication ensures continuity of care.

Phoebe De Carlos

Student ID: 24797173

 We started in a room with a patient trying to tell us how to retrieve an antidote, 5 of us had to listen attentively to understand him. In the process of hearing, the patient went into cardiac arrest, which we had to give him CPR to resuscitate him. We were so tensed and confused, eventually we got the information needed to embark on the next task. We quickly moved to the next room, looking at the limited time we had, in the next room we were distracted by a gentleman in the ward while searching for a pair of trousers with a belt to retrieve the key needed to open the locker for the next challenge. His questions and conversation diverted our attention for a few minutes, but we still had to empathise and listen to his complaint, we designated one of us to speak to him and quickly regrouped and refocused on our task and got the keys to unlock the next challenge. The challenge of coding the alphabet to the clue of the antidote room was the most challenging but interesting part of all the tasks. This exercise was excellent for enhancing our time management skills and teamwork, and it provided a mental workout since we had to think and act swiftly, which are highly relevant to my mental health nursing career. Like the simulation rooms, each day in nursing brings new challenges, and you never fully know what to expect.  We worked well together as a group and finally found the antidote. This was a moment of great pride and satisfaction for us.

Additionally, this escape room showed the importance of effective teamwork and communication. I will carry many of these lessons into my future practice. Looking back in the escape room with my classmate, whom we've never spoken to or knew each other's names, but still managed to communicate and teamed up to find the antidote, was a testament to our effective teamwork and interpersonal communication. It is also a valuable learning experience that will help strengthen my team-building skills, adapt to challenging situations, and work under pressure. Just like going into placement without prior understanding of how things are run on the unit and meeting with a team of nurses and support workers you’ve never met, as a student nurse, I must team up and learn quickly.

By ADENIKE OLAYEYE (Student no- 09160441)

                                                                                                               Student Id: 23650271

                                     Mental Health.

ASHA MOHAMED

24841731

On Wednesday 26th February, all students participated in an escape room in groups of 5. From start to finish throughout the escape room, teamwork was present and everybody tried to work as fast as they could. However at times when things got tricky, each one of us stood up to help the rest of the groups. The first escape room consisted of a quiz, which helped us all gain knowledge on some parts of the university we did not know we needed. Secondly, we encountered a real-life scenario where we had to give a patient CPR and I think that challenged us as to oppose working under pressure and as a team. Thirdly, we encountered a hospital setting with many things going on from, loud noises, to a patient asking to see the doctor all whilst we had to look for the next clue for the next room. Fourthly, we had to crack a code in order for the last and final room, which I thought was the hardest room yet. After we had completed this task, we entered our last room where we all had to use our pharmacology brains we eventually got there in the end which led us to open a case which held the prize. Overall, my personal experience with the escape room day was amazing, it helped all students to communicate with other students who they may have never spoken to, which I thought was a great idea, helping people to step out of their comfort zone in order to put it to practice in the future. What I was able to take away from this day was that when working as a team in practice there must be an individual who sets out rules and roles for certain individuals. There is so much that can be taken away from the escape room day and what I think needs to be taken away most importantly, is communication, in the worst-case scenario, a lack of communication can lead to a patient's life and when going into nursing we tend to avoid that situation at all cost. The one scenario which I took the most out was a real-life situation where we had to give CPR to a patient in order to resuscitate them. It was an issue that I don’t think any of us had expected so it made all the group spring into action but ideally, there was a lack of communication because everyone was putting their ideas in. But, in a real-life scenario, that wouldn’t be able to happen, you would have to spring into action as soon as possible to save that patient's life otherwise you're jeopardising that patient's chance of being resuscitated. What I was able to take away from that is the more time you spend ‘trying’ to communicate the less time you have saving that patient's life. I think the hospital scenario was good too because it gave us the experience of so many things happening at once but still being able to have that communication with a patient on a calm level although there was so much happening around us.

Saphie-Ella Ida Bird

22517900

Activity Reflection

During our simulation session on the 25th of February, we were assigned into groups to face a series of six individual escape rooms. Our groups comprised 4-6 of our class mates, whilst the rooms were made up of different tasks that we collaboratively needed to complete to escape and achieve our end goal. The scenario we were given for this activity was that our hospital was under a pandemic outbreak of an infectious disease, and we needed to find an antidote to stop the virus from spreading and help cure our patients. Each room faced us with a different challenge, which required us to work together, demanding strong communication, listening, and teamwork skills whilst equally individually using our knowledge and skills to help our team succeed. The purpose of this activity was to throw us in the deep end of a highly pressuring and intense situation mirroring the reality of a hospital/nursing environment. I think this was achieved well in the tasks we had, all rooms were different and challenged a different skill/ability that we needed. Our first room was a scenario on knowledge and touch, we had to answer a series of seven questions to escape the room. Each question was about our university and to answer them we had to touch the correct answer on the projected screen. If we got the answer wrong, the questions would restart. We moved on to the other rooms usually from clues in previous rooms. Some tasks were with actors/dummies and challenged our physical nursing skills, such as our knowledge and ability of CPR and how we would act with a patient in need whilst also figuring out the answers to escape. Whereas the remaining rooms challenged our abilities to think quickly and problem solve, these included word scrambles and drug calculations. Our team was successful with these tasks, scoring the overall quickest time of all the groups and winning the challenge. I believe we achieved this through appointing a team leader for the rooms, this avoided miscommunication in roles and allowed our instructions to be clear, which helped with the speed and the communication in our group. The communication in our group was clear throughout out tasks as we showcased all our abilities utilising each other's strongest skills to work our way through the different rooms. We each had our strengths throughout which we played too. We used initiative and diverse thinking, allowing us to find deeper meanings in the clues, which led us to finding the following clues quickly. By being under a strict time limit of forty minutes, we had to be aware of our time management skills, minimising distractions and thinking logically quickly. This was effective for us to practice as the environments of our careers mirror this and are a necessity for a nurse's skill set. The rooms allowed us to think outside of the box and practice our desired skills. I enjoyed this activity and found it useful for increasing my knowledge and skills.

24795084

On Tuesday we completed an escape room like activity. I was in a group of 6, and there were 6 rooms with various activities to progress to the next. This activity was a real test of communication and teamwork. Our first room to complete involved an interactive screen, where we were told the scenario and had to answer some questions about our course/profession and the university. We were communicating well; however, the interactive screen was very difficult to operate which did impact out communication in this room. Each of us had a different skillset. I believe we worked well to showcase these and to take advantage of our unique strengths to complete the activities. The second and third rooms came with some roleplaying with dummies and live actors. These rooms put into practice some essential nursing skills and emphasised the need for communication. In the fourth room we had to match medications/medical equipment to the prompts. In this room we did misinterpret the prompts, although it said ‘pick one’ we chose all of the medications which matched the description. This impacted how fast we carried out the task however we did complete it. In the fifth room we had to complete a cryptograph. I initially thought I knew what a cryptograph was however I had confused that and a codeword. So, it appeared that I didn’t tell my peers what it was, however I, myself did not grasp it initially. Once we had collectively worked it out we split the words to make it faster and more productive to complete. In the sixth and final room it involved doing drug calculations to gain the code for a padlock. I feel I could have communicated better within this task, but luckily one of my peers understood that I was just working out the calculations and as I wrote down the answer they applied the code to the padlock. I understand that not everyone within my life and career will understand what I am doing and the reasons for this, so I need to develop communicating my actions to my peers/colleagues. Communication is one of the many skills we had to use during this activity; communication skills are essential for a mental health nurse because they facilitate trust and rapport with patients, which is crucial for effective care. Clear and empathetic communication helps nurses understand patients' concerns, assess their emotional and psychological needs, and provide appropriate interventions. It also aids in de-escalating tense situations and ensuring patients feel heard and supported. Strong communication skills enable nurses to collaborate effectively with other healthcare professionals, ensuring comprehensive care and positive patient outcomes. Other skills we had to develop, and display are time management, collaboration and logical thinking. I think as a group, we did this well. There are areas which could be improved; however, we did have the pressure of time against us. Going forward I will aim to work on these essential skills and hopefully have the scope to practice them continually throughout my degree/career.

During the simulation week we completed an escape room. This activity consisted of six different rooms all with different objectives. The aims of the task were to work together in high pressure situations to achive a common goal. We were split into random groups of six. I thought it was important that the groups were random as it meant we had little prior knowledge of eachothers skills and approach. The first room consisted of an interactive room with questions about the university. We had to decide what was the right answer quickly. The setting of this room was very foreign to us. It was a dark room with all the questions lit up on the wall using a projector. We had to adapt quickly to this environment and then use our critical thinking skills to answer the question. The second room was a man who required CPR. We had to put full PPE on before entering the room and we had no orior information to what was in the room. We worked together to notice the equipment offered to us that worked as clues to his diagnosis. There were oxygen masks and we initially thought we had to use these but soon realised it was CPR that was required as his stats dropped and his heart stopped. We did successfully bring the patient back to life however we kept swapping who was giving CPR which meant it was interrupted. In a real life situation we have all learned to give continuous CPR. The third room whad a live actor there to distract us from the task at hand. Our communicatio was lacking in this room as we were all unsure what the task was asking of us but we happened to stumble on the right answer quickly. We could have done more in this room to do it properly. Our communication excelled in the last few rooms as we had adapted to eachotehrs individual skill sets. Some of us werw team leaders, some were working on the academic side of the tasks (on the puzzle quiz). I thought this day could have been very beneficial to my learning and I felt the CPR room was especially realistic and useful as it was a high pressure situation. 

Juno Nathan 

This reflection is based on the simulation from the escape room that took place in Brooks building. We were a team of four and we had started with our first attempt which was to get five questions right, the whole escape room was based on finding an antidote for the hospital because there was a virus outbreak. Our first attempt was a bit challenging as we could not press the answers on the monitor properly as there was a problem with the system, but we managed to get 3 questions right out of 5. We moved to the next attempt which was to resuscitate a dying patient after a member in the group performed CPR and brought him back to life, he gave us the next clue and told us where to go and find O’Ryenold’s belt, we then proceeded to the room, when we got there we matched his name to his wristband and found his bed along the line there was another patient that was agitated and waiting for his medication, three of us focused on O’Ryenold taking his observation while our fourth member tried to calm the patient that seemed agitated, we eventually found his belt and it had a key that opened a cupboard that gave us the next clue, which was to go to another room where we had to match tools to their names and also find anti-depressants and psychotics to match on the table, after we got it right we got the clue to go for the next attempt which was to decode series of words on a paper to find the next clue, this attempt was also challenging for us as we did not know what to do at first we did split into groups trying to figure out what the task was, few minutes later I tried matching the words but it didn't make any sense to me so I kept quiet until our supervisor saw what I was doing and asked me to share with the group and when we all tried decoding it became easier and we got the next clue which took us to the last task of the escape room which was to convert medication prescriptions and use the answers as the code to open the safe, we had four questions and there was four of us instead on solving one question each we let one person solve all the questions. We finally got the answers and opened the safe where we got the antidote, and we were congratulated by our supervisors and were awarded a certificate for completing the escape room. 
 

Reflecting on the experience in general I think we could have done very well if we had worked together and shared our ideas and thoughts instead of trying to do it alone, by dividing the tasks we could have come up with the answers quicker, from our feedback we were told that the girls doubted if we were right at first instead of just going with our first thought but we know we know what to do better next time, it was really fun and we learned a lot. 

Student Id- 24839726

Our assigned task on the 25th February was an escape room simulation, where we were split into groups and had to work together to complete various challenges.

First escape room, we completed a quiz that tested our knowledge, including information about the university that we didn’t realise was important. This helped us gain valuable insights and expand our understanding. Second challenge, we encountered a real-life CPR scenario, where we had to work under pressure as a team to resuscitate a patient, while managing hospital realistic distractions such as loud noises, patient asking for doctor and a drink at the same time while the team was under pressure of solving clues. The CPR scenario were highly beneficial learning experiences. I realised that working under pressure requires practice, and being able to adapt to unexpected situations is essential in nursing. If I were to face a similar situation again, I would focus on remaining calm, assigning clear roles within the team, and ensuring effective communication to improve efficiency. This part of the simulation tested our ability to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively. The final challenge required deep thinking and teamwork to crack a code, which I find the most difficult. Despite the stress and distractions, we successfully solved the clues and worked as a team to achieve our goals, we were told to open a case holding the team certificate, we were congratulated by our supervisor and awarded a certificate for completing the task. At the start, I felt excited and curious about the escape room concept, especially since it combined learning with teamwork. The quiz was engaging and helped build my confidence. However, during the CPR scenario, I felt pressure and anxiety because it was a high-stakes situation. There was a sense of urgency, and I was worried about making mistakes. At the same time, I felt motivated to work with my team to ensure we performed CPR correctly. Furthermore, this simulation effectively combined learning, teamwork, and hands-on emergency response training. It reinforced the importance of critical thinking, communication, and quick decision-making in nursing. While it was challenging, it was also a great opportunity for growth, and I now feel more prepared to handle real life medical emergencies.

ID: 24817327

BSc Mental Health Nursing: 2024 Cohort

On the 26^th of March,2025, we had our second day of simulation.No clue or instructions was given before hand. We were ushered in the “Cave”. The first exercise involved answering questions displayed on the wall as quickly as possible. These questions featured names of mental health illnesses, lead tutors and names of building at MMU. Though we did not get through the questions fast enough, we still got a congratulatory message and were instructed the next room to go to.

In the second room we found a patient who had a heart attack as he spoke to us. Straightaway we commenced CPR on his bed, quickly working as a team we reminded each other that it was supposed to be 30 compressions and two breaths. Once the patient revived, he told us the next room number, where we would find O’Reynolds belt, which had the key to the locker. This part was a bit challenging because we did not discuss how to collaborate, so we entered the room each focused on finding the belt. There was a patient who was waiting for his medication, and he was very disruptive, so we spontaneously allocated one person to keep  him occupied , while others continued to search. One member of the group accidentally saw the belt under the bed. We quickly got the key and checked his locker and found the next room number to go to.

We all rushed out to the next room feeling a bit more confident but with our efforts still not coordinated. This next room involved cracking some kind of alpha-numeric code to interpret the instructions given.  Surprisingly, we were quickly able to decipher the code and to arrange the office instruments and medication cards according to the order and places they needed to be in. However, the last instruction required us to look in the skies to know where we were going next. Again, a member of the team with sharp eyes quickly found the message leading us to the final Escape room.

Inspite of poor coordination, we managed to proceeded to the final room where we correctly did prescription calculations and ended up revealing the answers to form the number combination required to unlock the safe holding the antidote. We won!

On reflection, many of us were good as individuals, but everyone had different strengths. Some were good at spotting things, others at calculations, others at pressing quick buttons. We would have moved quicker if we had coordinated all these strengths. Our major weakness was poor communication. We did not communicate much with each other, so we could not quickly make important decisions. Our team however was full of smart thinkers, we still managed to get to the escape room in good time. The other take home for my future practice as a mental health nurse is that best practice clinical experience along with evidence-based practice are key to safe practice. I was very anxious at first but after we had been to the first and second room I settled and focused. Also, we were put in a very high-speed high-pressure environment which required high accuracy to get desirable outcome. Real life environments tend to be more like that. Overall, I enjoyed the whole experience. In the end because we worked together, the group was successful, and we got a prize certificate each.

On Tuesday 25th February 2025 the mental health students at university took part in an escape room as part our simulation week. We were split up into 9 groups and had to work together as a team to find the antidote to a virus that was infecting the hospital. We had 40 minutes to find the antidote before everyone became infected and died. We had a series of task to complete to different rooms where we had 7 minutes to complete the tasks before being given a clue at the end that would tell us which room to go to next.  My group consisted of 4 girls I’ve never worked with before. In the first room we were in the cave and it was an interactive quiz. I didn’t particularly like this part of the simulation because the board was very temperamental. I feel we could have done better though because we didn’t work together as a team at first and kept trying to hit the board at the same time. The next room I did rather enjoy it was in a small clinical room and there was a programmed patient that was infected with the virus he was talking to us and he was about to give us some information and he went into cardiac arrest. We worked together as. Team to preform CPR and saved the patient within 1minute and 52 seconds. After saving the patient we were so exited about getting the room number, we didn’t listen to all the clues that we were being told. We then went into a bigger clinical room which was set out like a hospital ward. There were a few patients in beds and an actor. The actor was playing a distressed patient who was potentially infected with the virus and wanted his medication off he doctor. When entering the room I wasn’t even sure what we were doing and I just started to look all over the room in the cupboards to find the medication the patient wanted. I tried to calm the distressed patient out by sitting down with him. We were so distracted that we didn’t recall the clue from the last room and our assessor after watching us struggle reminded us of the clue from the previous room of finding Orion’s Belt. The time ran out and we didn’t find the belt and didn’t realise it was one of the patients in the beds belt. The next room was a pictogram and in this room we worked together quickly  as a team to get the code for the final room. In the final room it was a medication calculation to find out a code for a locked box for the antidote it took us 2 attempts to crack the code but again we worked together as a team and misread only one calculation. In future I feel like I could have involved and worked with  team more from the start and listened to what was being said in the clues and not get too exited until the full task is over and complete.

Chelsea Dandridge

24837456

S24

Student ID: 24770076

On Tuesday 25th February I as well as 4 of my fellow peers took part in various different activities with an end goal to receiving an anecdote that was needed to help save the patients in our care.  The first activity was based in “the cave” in the brooks building the aim of the game was to answer all of the multiple choice questions right in order to progress to the next stage. I feel overall we worked well as a team and managed to answer all the questions right  however it proved difficult at times as there was a technological problem that was saying we was answering a question wrong and intervention was needed so we double checked. This taught me that in practice it is important to double check when using technology as its not always reliable. In the second room we was faced with an interactive manikin who went unconscious after speaking to us , I panicked but began following my peers actions and helped to secure the oxygen mask over the manikins mouth and one of my peers stated and started to give 30 chest compressions until the manikin came around and announced that he had been told that we needed to go to a specific  room in the brooks building  and find ‘Ryan’s Belt”. From carrying out this activity I have learnt that it is important to remain calm in stressful situations and it is good to also have your team of people to help guide you if you are feeling the pressure etc. in the 3rd room we was faced with a real life actor who was mentally and physically unwell who was wandering around the ward saying different things. It was set out like a hospital ward and there was 4 other beds with patient manikins in. My peer worked out that if you sat and talked to the patient he became quieter but if we went away and he was left alone he would get louder. As my peer noticed this she stayed with him and tried to calm him down whilst me and my other peers searched the patients in the bed , we especially looked for a wrist id badge , I looked under his bed and then found a pair of jeans with a belt in with keys on the end together we tried the key in the manikins cupboard and it opened and there was a piece of paper stating what room to go to next. Overall this task showed me how important teamwork is as well as also assessing what needs to be done first. The last few rooms were about knowledge of different medications, tools needed in practice and a code we needed to crack in order to move on to the next stage. This helped refresh my knowledge of different medications and provided insight into what tools I might come across in practice. The final room was all about drug calculations, there was 5 in total and instead of us all working on 1 it would have been quicker if we all was designated one calculation each to get the number to crack the code. We managed to crack the code in the padlock and receive our certificates and get the anecdote. In conclusion I really enjoyed this activity and it’s given me lots to think about out in practice.

24825632

On Tuesday 25th February we took part in a group activity for our simulation practice week in university. We were split into smaller groups of 5 and 6 and were lead down to The Cave room, without instruction and asked to listen and watch the video projected onto the walls. A nurse from the video explained the first task to us and we understood that we were in this hospital and a deadly virus had spread across staff and patients and we had to complete tasks in order to retrieve the antidote and save the people and were under a time pressure of 40 minutes. As a group we had to travel to different rooms, working together in high pressure environments that were simulated in order to recreate real life situations in practice. For example we entered a room where a patient mannequin seemed to be suffering from the virus and was feeling very unwell. As a team we had to retrieve details for the next room we would be going to and details about the task, while also trying to resuscitate him and perform CPR, as he declined significantly. Although this example was a simulation and it felt very real and made all of the team very stressed, as we had to concentrate on so many things at one time. I think on reflection, we could have been more organised and delegated tasks to everyone instead of all trying to do things at once, as this wasn't very effective and didn't help with time management. In future practice, I will learn from this experience and understand how important time is in these high pressure environments. Another thing I have learnt from this experience is the importance of communication when working in a team, as we lost a lot of time due to not communicating ideas and working together as a team. Something that I could apply to future practice, is being able to work closely and communicate effectively with people I haven't met before. This was relative to the activity as in this activity, I was working alongside other student nurses from my course, some that I had never met before and some that I had only briefly met or spoke to. This was difficult, as we didn't want to speak over each other, take over responsibility or delegate jobs, as we didn't know each other well. This developed throughout the task and we got more comfortable with communicating, however this could have been improved on at the start. This will relate to the future work I do on placement as a student nurse and also while working when qualified, as working in teams such as MDTs, where it is common you won't know all of the other professionals. So having good communication skills and being able to work well with others that you don't know are both factors I will consider and improve upon. In the end we managed to complete all of the tasks provided and found the antidote, this felt like a relief and an accomplishment for all of the team, as we had worked hard, under pressure to reach a positive result. I have learnt a lot of valuable skills from this activity that I will apply and remember for the future and I think that the reflection session afterwards was a good was to debrief and share our feelings together and gain feedback.

This put a lot of pressure on us as time was very limited. However, we had learnt from our experience and worked together to solve the questions. We each picked questions and solved them individually. Helping each other out if one of us was stuck on a specific questions, communicating when necessary and adapting to each other’s work style. This reinforced the knowledge we had gained from the drug calculation lecturing as we were able to successfully do them under pressure and cracked the code for the safe.

Name - Nelly Simo (24784100)

STUDENT NUMBER: 24802982

Becoming an Accountable Professional

(2E4Z0024_2425_9F)

Reflection on the ESCAPE room, second day of our Simulation week 25/02/2025.

I am writing this reflection based on escape room activity that we carried out in Brooks building during Mental Health Nursing first year student simulation week, 25/02/2025. All the students were divided into small groups, some groups were four, some five students respectively. We were formidable team of four students, that were assigned to carry out a task.

Task one was going to the Cave, the purpose of this task was to see how we can communicate withing our self as a team. We showed our communication skills and the important of working as a team. Our first task was to check how familiar we are with our school. A certain time was allocated for this task, because of technical problems.

 Our second Tast was a scenario of a critical patient that was on his bed, and he seriously needed to be resuscitated because he was not breathing well. We put on our PPE immediately and start CPR, and we were able to resuscitate our patient within a reasonable minute. Our patient provided us with useful information on where to go and get O’ryan’s belt.  As a team, we quickly rush to the room, we were distracted by a patient who was so agitated. I and one of my team members tried to calm him down, we ask him to sit and let check his Blood Pleasure, he reused, Luckly for us he sat down and one of us quickly went to him and sit with him whilst the rest 3 members was busy searching for the belt. At the end of this scenario, we learnt that it is good to find the belt, but, we must prioritize our patients, WHAT was important at that time was how we can control our patient when they are agitated.

This task was to Identify some equipment and medications which is being used daily in hospitals by mental health nurses. This task did not take us time to accomplished. We also had a task that we must combine alphabet that will make up a word, after combining the alphabets, the word becomes, LOOKS UP TO THE SKY for our last task. We were busy looking out from the windows to the sky, and one of our team members looked at the ceiling and call our attention. This last task directed us to where the box was. After getting to where the box was, we have to do medicine calculation in other to get the number to open the box. Our supervisors were happy with us, and a CONGRATULATION AWARD was given to us.

 My Reflecting. Our start was not too good, we may put it on technical issues, but we quickly picked up task, despite the distraction from getting the belt, we put up individual efforts where necessary, but we work collectively in achieving our goals.

          THE ESCAPE ROOM REFLECTIVE ACCOUNTS.

Becoming an Accountable Professional 2E4Z0024_2425_9F

FESTUS KUNLE AJISAFE

STUDENT ID 18044059

Participating in an escape room as a nursing student, especially after completing simulated learning, provided a unique opportunity to reflect on the significance of teamwork in healthcare settings. The immersive experience highlighted the importance of effective communication, collaboration, and mutual support among team members. This reflective account will explore the lessons learned from working together as a team and how these insights will positively impact my future practice as a nurse.

During the escape room activity, our group was tasked with solving a series of challenging puzzles within a limited timeframe. The experience required us to rely on each other's strengths and expertise to achieve a common goal. One of the key lessons I learned was the importance of clear and concise communication. In a high-pressure environment, it became evident that miscommunication could lead to delays and hinder our progress. Similarly, clear communication among healthcare professionals is crucial for providing safe and efficient patient care in a clinical setting.

Collaboration was another essential aspect of our escape room experience. Each team member brought unique skills and perspectives to the table, which contributed to our overall success. This experience reinforced the idea that no one should or can successfully work in isolation in nursing. Effective collaboration among nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals is vital for comprehensive patient care. By acknowledging and valuing the contributions of each team member, we can create a more cohesive and supportive working environment.

The escape room also emphasised the importance of mutual support and trust within a team. We encouraged and motivated each other throughout the activity, particularly when faced with complex challenges. This sense of companionship and trust is equally important in a nursing context. Building strong relationships with colleagues and fostering a supportive atmosphere can significantly enhance job satisfaction and team performance. In my future practice as a nurse, I will strive to create and maintain a positive work environment where team members feel valued and supported.

Reflecting on the escape room experience, I realised that effective teamwork is about working together and understanding and appreciating each team member's diverse strengths. In nursing, recognising the unique skills and knowledge each healthcare professional brings can lead to more holistic and patient-centered care. We can improve patient care quality by embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive culture.

Another crucial lesson from the escape room was the importance of adaptability and problem-solving. In a dynamic and fast-paced environment, thinking on one's feet and adapting to changing circumstances is essential. This skill is particularly relevant in nursing, where healthcare professionals often encounter unexpected situations and must respond quickly and effectively. By developing strong problem-solving skills and remaining flexible, I can better navigate the complexities of clinical practice and provide high-quality care to patients.

In conclusion, the escape room experience provided valuable insights into the significance of teamwork in healthcare settings. The lessons learned about communication, collaboration, mutual support, diversity, and adaptability will undoubtedly impact my future practice as a nurse. By applying these principles, I can contribute to a more cohesive and efficient healthcare team, ultimately improving patient outcomes and overall care quality.

On the 25^th of February we were assigned to do an escape room in a group of 5-6 people whilst being supervised by one of our lecturers, it involved a lot of critical thinking and teamwork. Between the 5 of us we had to work together and find an antidote to the viral infection in order to stop it spreading.  The first task was in ‘The Cave’, it involved us answering questions related to MMU and mental health nursing. This one was easy but since the touch screen wasn’t working properly it took us longer than it should’ve meaning we didn't get the first clue. Afterwards, we went to our second task. Outside the door it had the biohazard symbol and PPE, I pointed it out and we all put it on. When we entered the room, it was a patient that was really ill and had flatline whilst he was speaking to us. We started doing CPR immediately and put ‘oxygen’ on him, it was quite chaotic, but we got there in the end. It definitely put our communication and teamwork skills to the test, being in a highly demanding scenario meant that we had to work quickly and carefully to make sure we did it correctly. He started speaking to us again and told us the next clue which was to ‘find Orion's belt’ and the room we needed to get to. Upon entering the following room, there was a patient. He seemed to be a bit manic and was asking for the doctor so that he could get his medication, he showed signs of auditory hallucinations. During this task we were all set on finding Orion's belt which took our attention off the patient which is a big flaw on our part. However, when we saw his doing to the reception desk going through documents, we sat him back down and had a conversation with him to try and calm him down. Eventually we found the belt and started trying to open the medicine cabinet because we thought we had to give him something for his hallucinations, it wasn't opening so we tried a different cabinet which finally showed us the next room we had to go in. This task showed us the importance of mental health nursing because even though the patient had nothing to do with how we were going to get the next clue, he still needed to be looked after which is a scenario that can happen whilst in practice. In the next task there was a code that we needed to crack to get into the next room, the code deciphered said ‘open your eyes, look up to the skies’ which indicated to us that the next clue to the final task was on the ceiling. Finally, in this task were had to work out these calculations so that we could open the padlock. We did kind of rush this, so we had to make sure to read each question carefully so that we know what we were adding up, taking away, or multiplying. We eventually cracked the code.  

This experience also gave us the opportunity to improve upon our clinical skills as some of the scenarios in the different room required us to perform medical procedures such as CPR and applying the use of an oxygen mask to try and resuscitate the patient whilst the patient was declining significantly. This added extra pressure on to our team as it felt very realistic and as though it was a real life situation. This element of the simulation was useful for understanding how to work well under pressure and remain calm in challenging situations and use problem solving skills in order to cope with challenging situations and figuring out solutions with your team members. The experience also emphasised the importance of good time management skills as it would require us to work fast in order to try and save the patients life, because if we didn’t allocate our time effectively in these high pressure environments the chance of saving the patients life would decrease significantly.

The final room was also extremely beneficial as it help improve our knowledge of common medications used in nursing that we will be required to administer throughout our time spent on placement and when qualified, this made me feel more confident when carrying out these procedures in the future. It also helped me to familiarise myself with common tools and equipment used in practice and their individual purposes and how to administer these. Technology was a significant part of this experience as a lot of the experience was made possible and carried out using technology which required us to become more familiar with its use and significance in the modern world.

Overall I feel the activity was highly beneficial as a student nurse as it was extremely informative of scenarios that we could come across in practice and helped to prepare us for how to cope with these kind of high pressure situations, in order to apply ourselves as effectively as possible and increase of chance of saving patient lives and providing the best nursing care possible.

(Abby Davis- 24815431)

Emma M

On Tuesday, I participated in an immersive escape room experience along with five other nursing students. We were tasked with completing a variety of activities that required us to collaborate as a team in order to ‘escape’ each room. The aim of this escape room was to successfully complete each task within a time frame, in order to find the ‘cure’ to an unknown disease that was spreading throughout the world. The six rooms we were tasked with completing all compromised of various challenges that required us to utilise different skills and techniques that we have gained on our previous and current placement. This experience highlighted the significance of teamwork and how vital it is to ensure that we are able to communicate effectively with other professionals to reach the end goal. This activity allowed us to develop a better understanding of how working within a chaotic, high-pressure environment can lead to miscommunicating and how unclear information can easily be construed. Therefore, it became evident how essential the need for clear, concise communication is and how as future nurses, we must be able to utilise this skill in our future practices. In the first of the six rooms, we were tasked with answering multiple choice questions based on our individual knowledge, however, due to technical difficulties our team was unable to complete the task as the challenge kept resetting, even when the right answer was given. This made the task rather difficult and frustrating, however as a team, we remained calmed and still continued to try. This demonstrates how technology is not always reliable, and if things do not go the way we planned, we still must attempt to do the original task. This is a key aspect of nursing, as sometimes unexpected incidents will occur, and we must be able to adapt our plan to ensure that the end goal is reached. The second room that we entered was a patient isolation room, where we had to work together as a team to perform CPR on a coding patient. When the patient first began coding, I attempted to perform the compressions, however due to the height of the bed, I was unable to reach, therefore my actions will have been ineffective. I assessed my capabilities and made the decision to swap with another colleague who could perform the compressions effectively. Instead, I made sure the oxygen was connected and was turned on to the correct litre. This task highlighted the importance of assessing the situation and acknowledging my capabilities. I will ensure to take this into account and not attempt to apply myself to a situation in my future practice where I am unable to perform adequately. In the third room, we entered a hospital ward with the task of locating a patients’ belt, however there was a live actor in this room who’s role was to distract us from our main task by becoming increasingly irate and distressed. During this activity, I acknowledged what the actor was doing as on my current placement, I work with patients who behave like this due to their mental health. I informed my teammates that someone needed to sit and stay one to one with the actor, but no one seemed to be concerned. I took it upon myself to chat with this patient, distracting him from what the rest of the team were doing, and trying my best to answer and respond to his concerns. At the end of this activity, the actor and my lecturer gave me feedback, stating that the way I communicated with this patient was very well done and highlighted my interpersonal skills. My ability to recognise and act on this, demonstrates how I am able to apply my knowledge to current situations, showing that I learn from and utilise my past experiences. As a team, I think we worked well together, and we were able to recognise our individual strengths and weaknesses, which allowed us to complete the tasks much more efficiently than if we had tried to attempt to do this individually. Each student had their own skills, and we all ensured that we were able to apply them where necessary. I will take this experience into my future practice and ensure that I work collaboratively with my future colleagues and provide the best care for my patients.

Kiera Hadcroft

On the date, Thursday 27th February, we had to complete a series of different scenarios. It began by us being given a brief that a virus had broken out and only we could go and find the antidote as we were the last group of people that hadn't contracted it at that time. The first room we were in was an interactive quiz where we faced many technical difficulties but we worked together as a team effectively. We then went to a room where there was a dummy lay on the bed and he said he had important things to tell us then we had to perform CPR to get the information, we all panicked but then realised what we had to do and had good communication after realising. Which then led us to a clinical room where we had to find o'ryans belt but there was an actor in the room and he was a very good distraction. I was much more concerned about him that I was about finding the belt, our communication could have been alot better in that room but we didn't really know what was happening as there was live stimuli and we didn't know whether to focus on him or try and find the belt. We had three more rooms that we had to go into, we went into one where we had to break the code to find the next clue, our communication could have been better in this room although we started working together well we all kinda did our own thing to try and work it out but we eventually saw the clue above the door. We then went to another room where we had to define some items and after we had done that got told the clue so went to the final room where it was drug calculations and after we all got stuck on the first one as we overcomplicated it, we got the code in time and was able to complete the escape room.