Designing an escape room to increase pharmacy preceptor knowledge of the pharmacists’ patient care process

Abstract

Objective. To design and assess the use of an escape room for pharmacy preceptor development. Methods. An escape room for preceptor development that focused on the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process (PPCP), preceptor resources, and the school of pharmacy’s mission and vision was created. Teams had to solve digital and practical puzzles to escape a pharmacy. The team to correctly solve all the puzzles the fastest was considered to have escaped the pharmacy. Escape room puzzles included digital locks, cipher wheels, a rebus puzzle, riddle, hidden object, and other puzzles. Preceptor’s knowledge of the PPCP and perceptions of the game were evaluated using a pre-and post-activity test and survey. Results. Fifteen preceptors with a variety of practice sites and precepting experience participated in a matched pre-and post-activity survey. Preceptor knowledge of the order of the PPCP improved, with nine (60%) preceptors answering correctly before participating in the activity vs 13 (87%) after. However, the preceptors were less likely to correctly answer the type of approach the PPCP uses after completing the escape room activity, with 14 (93%) answering correctly before vs 10 (67%) after. Participants’ perceptions of the game were positive and all preceptors agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend participating in this activity to another preceptor. Conclusion. A preceptor development escape room was viewed positively by preceptors. Future research should focus on digital-only escape rooms for preceptors to increase availability and participation.