Possible benefits of gamification for improving surgical patients' quality of care

´This paper considers the potential benefits of gamification from the perspective of surgical patients' quality of care. There is little published data on gamifying the work of healthcare professionals even though the use of serious games in healthcare has been growing. Literature on the quality of care shows that patients are often satisfied with the care they have received. However, research indicates that deficiencies exist in patient education, in patients' opportunities to participate in and have impact on decision making regarding their care, and in prevention and management of complications. Workplace culture is significantly connected with the incidence of patient complications. Gamification of healthcare workers' daily work routines could have positive effects on nurses' ownership and the meaningfulness of their work, and on the prevention and management of complications, which would in turn improve the quality of care for surgical patients. In this paper, a hypothetical gamification case is presented and directions for future research are discussed.Peer reviewe

The practical politics of sharing personal data

The focus of this paper is upon how people handle the sharing of personal data as an interactional concern. A number of ethnographic studies of domestic environments are drawn upon in order to articulate a range of circumstances under which data may be shared. In particular a distinction is made between the in situ sharing of data with others around you and the sharing of data with remote parties online. A distinction is also drawn between circumstances of purposefully sharing data in some way and circumstances where the sharing of data is incidental or even unwitting. On the basis of these studies a number of the organisational features of how people seek to manage the ways in which their data is shared are teased out. The paper then reflects upon how data sharing practices have evolved to handle the increasing presence of digital systems in people’s environments and how these relate to the ways in which people traditionally orient to the sharing of information. In conclusion a number of ways are pointed out in which the sharing of data remains problematic and there is a discussion of how systems may need to adapt to better support people’s data sharing practices in the future

Elements explaining learning clinical reasoning using simulation games

This article presents the findings on which elements in a game-based simulation affect learning clinical reasoning in nursing education. By using engaging gaming elements in virtual simulations and integrating the clinical reasoning process into game mechanics, games can enhance learning clinical reasoning and offer meaningful learning experiences. The study was designed to explore how nursing students experience gaming and learning when playing a simulation game, as well as which gaming elements explain learning clinical reasoning. The data was collected by questionnaire from nursing students (N = 166) in autumn 2014 over thirteen gaming sessions. The findings showed that usability, application of nursing knowledge, and exploration have the most impact on learning clinical reasoning when playing simulation games. Findings also revealed that authentic patient-related experiences, feedback, and reflection have an indirect effect on learning clinical reasoning. Based on these results, more efficient simulation games to improve clinical reasoning may be developed.</p

Hypermedia Learning Environment for Mathematics

This thesis describes the design, implementation and use of a software package for hypermedia based learning on mathematical sciences. The software package integrates hypertext, computer-aided exercises, graphics, videos and sound into a hypermedia based learning environment (HMLE). The design and implementation problems of hypermedia based learning environments in mathematics are presentation, input, comparison and evaluation of mathematical expressions, document conversion from ordinary text to hypertext, division of linear text to hypertext and automatic link generation. As a solution to these problems, HMLE consists of document conversion tools for Microsoft Word documents, presentation tools for mathematical hypertext documents and authoring tools for automatic link generation. In order to support learning, problem-solving tools and other cognitive tools should be integrated to hypermedia environment. As a solution, HMLE introduces interactive exercises generated by Mathematica, exercises with hints, links to animation and movie applications, links to mathematical applications, and concept maps. Finally, classroom experiences of hypermedia based learning environments are presented