Other Titles
Rapid Presentation Round
Abstract
Academic nurse leaders nationally face the constant challenge of incorporating diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives and promoting healthy work environments (HWE) standards with limited resources. This presentation describes a professional development offering for academic nurse leaders via an “escape room” approach.
An escape room is a themed challenge event where players collaborate to find clues, complete tasks, and solve various puzzles. The aim is to achieve a specific, time-bound goal, usually to escape from somewhere. Escape rooms help participants develop the knowledge, experience, and skills to overcome complex challenges (Parker & Welch, 2021; Adams et al, 2018; Brown et al, 2019; Strickland & Kaylor, 2016).
A Professional Development Coach within a federally funded project to diversify nurse educators will lead the professional development offering to assist academic nurse leaders within underserved communities, incorporate the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) DEIA initiatives and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) standards of a healthy work environment.
A healthy work environment (HWE) enables nurse leaders to achieve the highest levels of outcome measures while also being personally fulfilled at work. In fact, data consistently shows that work environments that implement HWE standards outperform those that do not in many ways. Such data includes the overall health of the work environment, better retention, less moral distress, and lower rates of workplace violence. (Ulrich, 2022) However, healthy work environments for nurses have declined dramatically since 2018 despite evidence of a positive correlation between the implementation of HWE standards and healthy work environments, between healthy work environments and job satisfaction, and between job satisfaction and the intent of nurses to leave their current positions or to stay (Ulrich, 2022).
Adult learning and cognitive social theory will provide the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for designing the escape room. Adult learners will actively explore and reflect upon their current work environments and process DEIA information from previous experiences. By doing so, nurse leaders will develop a higher level of problem-solving and search for new information to synthesize knowledge into future applications (Chaung, 2021; Billings & Halstead, 2020; Bradshaw & Lowenstein, 2019).
Gaming will provide the platform with which to introduce DEIA initiatives supporting HWE strategies while engaging and motivating learners as it requires cooperation and collaboration, teamwork, and competitiveness to overcome challenges. Further, using game-based learning, participants can partake in an experiential experience that enhances and facilitates learning and interest through the active learning environment.
Notes
References:
Adams, V., Burger, S., Crawford, K., & Setter, R. (2018). Can you escape? Creating an escape room to facilitate active learning. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 34(2), E1–E5. 10.1097/NND.0000000000000433
Chuang, S. (2021). The applications of constructivist learning theory and social learning theory on adult continuous development. Performance Improvement, 60(3), 6–14. https://doi-org.libdata.lib.ua.edu/10.1002/pfi.21963
Billings, D., & Halstead, J. (2020). Teaching in nursing. A guide for faculty (6th ed.). Elsevier.
Bradshaw, M., & Lowenstein, A. (2019). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (8th ed.). Jones and Bartlett.
Brown, N., Darby, W., & Coronel, H. (2019). An escape room is a simulation teaching strategy. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 30, 1–6. 10.1016/j.ecns.2019.02.002
Parker, K.C. & Welch, T.D. (2021). (Published). Innovative teaching strategies to escape the anxiety of simulation. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2021.06.005
Strickland H. P., & Kaylor S. K. (2016). Bringing your A-game: Educational gaming for student success. Nursing Education Today, 40, 101–103. doi:10.1016/jnedt.2016.02.014
Ulrich, B., Cassidy, L., Barden, C., Varn-Davis, N., & Delgado, S.A. (2022). National nurse work environments- October 2021: A status report. Critical Care Nurse, 42(5), 58–70. https://doi-org.libdata.lib.ua.edu/10.4037/ccn2022798
Sigma Membership
Epsilon Omega
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Diversity & Inclusion Policies, Work Environment, Escape Rooms, Healthy Work Environments, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, DEIA
Recommended Citation
Welch, Teresa D., "The Escape Room Challenge: Integrating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Initiatives to Promote a Healthy Work Environment" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 11.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/11
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-11
The Escape Room Challenge: Integrating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Initiatives to Promote a Healthy Work Environment
Washington, DC, USA
Academic nurse leaders nationally face the constant challenge of incorporating diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives and promoting healthy work environments (HWE) standards with limited resources. This presentation describes a professional development offering for academic nurse leaders via an “escape room” approach.
An escape room is a themed challenge event where players collaborate to find clues, complete tasks, and solve various puzzles. The aim is to achieve a specific, time-bound goal, usually to escape from somewhere. Escape rooms help participants develop the knowledge, experience, and skills to overcome complex challenges (Parker & Welch, 2021; Adams et al, 2018; Brown et al, 2019; Strickland & Kaylor, 2016).
A Professional Development Coach within a federally funded project to diversify nurse educators will lead the professional development offering to assist academic nurse leaders within underserved communities, incorporate the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) DEIA initiatives and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) standards of a healthy work environment.
A healthy work environment (HWE) enables nurse leaders to achieve the highest levels of outcome measures while also being personally fulfilled at work. In fact, data consistently shows that work environments that implement HWE standards outperform those that do not in many ways. Such data includes the overall health of the work environment, better retention, less moral distress, and lower rates of workplace violence. (Ulrich, 2022) However, healthy work environments for nurses have declined dramatically since 2018 despite evidence of a positive correlation between the implementation of HWE standards and healthy work environments, between healthy work environments and job satisfaction, and between job satisfaction and the intent of nurses to leave their current positions or to stay (Ulrich, 2022).
Adult learning and cognitive social theory will provide the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for designing the escape room. Adult learners will actively explore and reflect upon their current work environments and process DEIA information from previous experiences. By doing so, nurse leaders will develop a higher level of problem-solving and search for new information to synthesize knowledge into future applications (Chaung, 2021; Billings & Halstead, 2020; Bradshaw & Lowenstein, 2019).
Gaming will provide the platform with which to introduce DEIA initiatives supporting HWE strategies while engaging and motivating learners as it requires cooperation and collaboration, teamwork, and competitiveness to overcome challenges. Further, using game-based learning, participants can partake in an experiential experience that enhances and facilitates learning and interest through the active learning environment.
Description
Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are integrated into strategies for creating a healthy work environment using the escape room as a themed challenge event. Players collaborate to find clues, complete tasks, and solve puzzles to achieve a specific, time-bound goal. Escape rooms support experiential interactive learning.