Development and Evaluation of an Immersive Cinematic Escape Room for Disaster Preparedness and Self-Efficacy Among Nurses

Background: The occurrence of natural disasters is unpredictable. Nurses need to have the core competency of disaster nursing to effectively respond to natural disasters. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an immersive cinematic escape room (ICER) instructional approach in disaster preparedness and self-efficacy in nurses. Method: This quasi-experimental research design used a convenience sample of 115 nurses. The course contents covered establishment of medical stations, incident command system (ICS), personal preparedness and protection in disasters, and mass casualty triage (START). Evaluation of disaster preparedness and self-efficacy occurred before, one week after and four weeks after the course. Results: The experimental group, lacking prior disaster preparedness education experiences, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement (p < .01) compared to the control group with more such experiences. At week four, both groups showed improvement in the self-efficacy scores, but the improvement did not achieve statistical significance (p > .05). Conclusion: The ICER approach significantly enhanced nurses’ disaster preparedness and self-efficacy. Educators are encouraged to adopt this approach for comprehensive disaster nursing education.