For nursing students, studying is part of their daily routine. Whether they’re reviewing skills, working through challenging concepts, or memorizing complex material, students spend countless hours preparing for success in the classroom and, eventually, at the bedside.

At Galen College of Nursing’s Myrtle Beach campus, however, studying doesn’t always look like students gathered around a table with stacks of notes and textbooks. One faculty member saw an opportunity to reimagine how learning happens and found a way to make studying more engaging, interactive, and memorable.

For Kathryn Booth, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, the instructor for Foundations of Nursing, keeping students engaged during five-hour lab sessions was a challenge she knew needed a solution. While students often excelled at memorizing information, applying those concepts in real-world scenarios proved more difficult, particularly when it came to fluid and electrolytes.

“I thought, what could we do different from a theory standpoint, rather than just delivering the information? How do we help them apply it, and understand it, and retain it?” Booth said.

Looking for a new approach, Booth came across an escape room activity and began exploring how it could be adapted for her students. Her goal was to move beyond traditional instruction and create an experience that encouraged collaboration, critical thinking, and application of knowledge.

The first version was an in-person escape room where students worked in randomized teams, solving clues and completing fluid and electrolyte challenges before moving on to the next stage. By mixing students into different groups, Booth gave them the opportunity to learn from classmates they might not normally work with.

“It got loud. Loud with excitement,” Booth said. “The energy from that was palpable. They talked about it forever.”

After seeing success with the in-person format, Booth transitioned to a virtual escape room that allowed students to work through scenarios together during lab. As teams debated answers and solved problems, she noticed students were doing exactly what she had hoped they would: talking through concepts instead of simply memorizing them.

“I could hear them talking, ‘Are you sure that’s sodium? I think that’s potassium,’” Booth said. “That’s what we need. We needed them to start talking through concepts, saying things out loud. Why is it not this? Why do you think it’s that? And not coming from the faculty but coming from each other.”

The activity also helped boost engagement throughout the rest of the lab experience. Rather than passively listening to information, students remained energized and invested in learning.

“I was trying to hit all those different learning styles of the students,” Booth said. “There’s got to be something different than me just trying to teach them fluid and electrolytes through a PowerPoint.”

Beyond the excitement, Booth saw improvements in student performance and, more importantly, in their ability to connect classroom concepts to patient care.

“It’s not even retaining it,” Booth said. “It’s really about understanding the concept. You have knowledge, you have understanding, but now how do we apply it?”

That impact has lasted well beyond a single course. Months later, Booth noticed students who participated in the activity were still confidently applying what they had learned.

“It’s now ingrained in them,” Booth said. “They are recalling quickly, shouting out low sodium, high sodium, use this IV fluid, and I’m like, okay, that was a good teaching strategy.”

For Booth, the success of the escape room reinforces the value of active learning and gamification in nursing education. What started as an experiment has become a powerful learning tool at the Myrtle Beach campus.

By turning a historically challenging topic into an interactive experience, Booth has helped students build confidence, strengthen critical thinking skills, and discover that learning can be both effective and fun.

At Galen, learning goes beyond the traditional classroom experience. From interactive simulations and gamified learning activities to hands-on clinical experiences, students are supported every step of the way as they prepare for a career in healthcare. Whether you’re interested in an ADN, BSN, Practical Nursing, or advancing your education through an RN to BSN program, there’s a pathway designed to help you reach your goals.