Rachelle Lesy, MN, RN, CPN(C), recently published a literature review titled “Using game-based learning to teach orthopaedics to perioperative nurses: A real game changer” in the ORNAC Journal (Volume 42, Issue 2, pp. 32–39).

Rachelle Lesy is the Orthopedic Clinical Resource Nurse at Brandon Regional Health Centre in Manitoba, where she has spent the past decade managing the joint arthroplasty, arthroscopy, spine, and orthopedic trauma program and training perioperative nurses in orthopedic surgical nursing. She completed her Master of Nursing with an education focus at Athabasca University and currently serves as President Elect of the Manitoba Operating Room Nurses Association (MORNA).

This literature review analyzed 14 studies on game-based learning (GBL) in the perioperative setting and found consistent support for GBL as an effective way to build staff engagement, strengthen knowledge retention, improve technical skills, and foster inter-professional teamwork, benefits especially relevant to orthopedic surgery, a specialty defined by complex instrumentation and high surgical demand.

Among the studies reviewed was a randomized controlled trial by Clarke et al. (2021), which found that perioperative nurses who trained on PeriopSim prior to handling real surgical instruments were 23% quicker at instrument recognition, with 93% accuracy, compared to nurses who only reached 80% accuracy after direct instrument exposure without simulation training first.

The review also points to why this matters now. Arthritis, the most prevalent chronic health condition in Canada, affects 6 million people today and is projected to affect 9 million by 2040, a trend that, combined with an aging population, is driving sustained growth in orthopedic surgical demand. At the same time, most perioperative education still centers on general surgery and foundational skills, leaving many nurses to learn orthopedic specialties largely on the job.

Lesy warns: “orthopedic surgery is in high demand, yet it is a comprehensive specialty for perioperative nurses to master, due to complex instrumentation and equipment, which can cause anxiety and stress.”

The experience of anxiety can make learning difficult. When the learning experience is fun, however, nurses are more likely to show increased engagement, heightened attention, and improved learning (Castelluccio, 2011). Safety is another concern. Using GBL allows nurses to learn orthopedic instrumentation through a hands-on experience in a safe, controlled environment that ultimately decreases anxiety (Borck et al., 2022). In this context, Lesy views GBL as a “valuable and increasingly popular education strategy in perioperative nursing education.”

Lesy’s research review concludes that GBL could be a game changing “tool for teaching surgical specialties—orthopedics and others—to improve knowledge, foster teamwork, and advance technical skills.”


Key Findings

      • Perioperative nurses trained on PeriopSim before handling real instruments showed faster, more accurate instrument recognition than those without simulation training (Clarke et al., 2021).

      • GBL supports engagement across cognitive, behavioural, and emotional dimensions, helping staff build new skills, retain knowledge, and stay motivated to keep learning.

      • Orthopedic surgical demand continues to rise with the aging population and increasing arthritis rates, adding urgency to how perioperative nurses are trained for this specialty.

      • GBL gives nurses a way to build orthopedic knowledge and technical proficiency before entering the OR, rather than learning primarily through real-time, real-patient exposure.

    Dr Clarke et al.

    PeriopSim already supports this kind of cross-skills training today, with simulation content spanning cardiothoracic, general surgery, neurosurgery, OBGYN, orthopedic, and pediatric cardiac specialties, giving perioperative nurses, surgical technologists, and sterile processing technicians a way to build specialty competency and confidence before ever stepping into a live OR.

    References

    Lesy, R. (2025). Using game-based learning to teach orthopaedics to perioperative nurses: A real game changer. ORNAC Journal, 42(2), 32–39.

    Borck, J., Meyer, D., Gettrust, L., & Novalija, J. (2022). Escape to the OR: A novel teaching strategy to promote interprofessional learning and teamwork. Nursing Management, 53(2), 28–35. 

    Castelluccio, D. L. (2011). Laser safety: The game is on. AORN Journal: The Official Voice of Perioperative Nursing, 94(2), 152–157.