This thesis describes the impact the participation of a pharmacology game has on nursing students’ ability to reflect.
The pharmacology game has been developed with the outset of using an exemplary patient case with various questions that support the patient's progress from hospitalization to leaving the hospital. The game basically uses two kinds of questions: factual quiz questions based on 5 different themes and reflection questions based on the case.
The thesis’ empiricism consists of observations during and interviews following the nursing students’ participation in the pharmacology game. The students are doing their 3rd semester and 6th semester internship.
Based on the empirical analysis, the impact and importance of the game is analyzed and discussed in order to support and develop the ability of nursing students to reflect in different situations. The thesis applies John Dewey and Donald Schön’s theory of reflection as well as Ann Charlotte Thorsted’s theory of being in a “playing organization” described in the book, “The Playing Organization” and uses Hiim and Hippe’s relationship model to conduct a didactic analysis.
The thesis concludes that the pharmacology game and its game element support the students’ ability to reflect. The impact of reflection, however, appears to be conditioned by the balance between several elements, including pure dialogue versus roleplaying situations, a firm control of when to provide hints and when to pose additional questions from the cards, but also allowing participants to apply their own experience, control and limit complexity, play and competition element, goal management versus process management.
The clinical supervisor’s role as game master and ability to create the comfortable learning environment that promotes courage among the students to ask each other questions and put forward new and unfinished ideas, is considered to be very important for the reflection process
The thesis’ findings also demonstrate the importance of defining whether the goal of reflection is pragmatic with a specific action in mind or whether the goal is the unfolding of ideas during the process.