Players take on roles as members of ward staff. Before the shift ends, they must achieve a target number of admissions and discharges and also manage ongoing patient care. As the shift progresses, events occur, and tasks need to be completed – players must work together to make decisions, prioritise duties and use their role-specific skills and authority to complete patient care tasks.

The Priorities Game helps students and newly qualified nurses to develop skills in:

• Collaboration
• Communication
• Clinical reasoning
• Decision making
• Prioritisation
• Leadership
• Delegation

Facilitation of learning

However, nurses involved in facilitation of learning (clinical educators, nursing mentors, ward managers) will find this a useful tool, both for student training and for qualified nurses in practice.