A Nursing Critical Thinking Game

Ponder™ The Socratic Way is a simulation-style board game that provides unpredictable, constantly evolving patient case scenarios that have problems that must be solved throughout the game.

Add our booster pack for another dimension of challenge with a focus on pharmacology, nutrition and oxygenation!

We think Ponder is a great tool for medical training, but don’t just take our word for it.

So how do you play?

The curriculum builder is ideally played with up to four teams of three to five students each team, but can be played with individual students.  Each team downloads a buzzer to utilize during play.  The goal of the game is to collect the largest number of “Status Improved” cards AND the fewest “Suffered Setback” cards.
A roll of the dice provides different diverse patients every time.  A spinner dictates drawing question cards or rolling more dice as the game plays, constantly changing the scenarios. Teams think through situations solving problems based on the patient’s pathophysiology, pharmacology, labs, and changing scenarios as they compete for game cards: “Real Nurse (RN)”, “Status Improved” and “Suffered Setback” cards—the team with the most “Status Improved” wins!
Students must apply all of the principles of the nursing process—assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation as they bounce ideas off of each other in a non-threatening environment. Instructors facilitate the curriculum builder and take advantage of Socratic “teaching moments” as they occur in the game as if they were on a unit. The real winner is solving problems and learning in a fun and non-threatening manner!

Watch the video to the right for a complete tutorial!

The purpose of Ponder™: The Socratic Way (formerly known as What Would Socrates Think?) is to stimulate critical thinking.  Students are provided with unpredictable patient scenarios that change constantly during play.  The instructor helps facilitate play by encouraging questions throughout the game.  Discussion after answering the questions and even adding questions by the instructor and/or students is encouraged for a richer experience when valuable “teaching moments” present themselves.  Students will participate by answering questions and thinking through situations.  The instructor may wish to allow students the option of using books, smart phones, or other resources to help answer the questions.  Students should bring a penlight, stethoscope, and other physical assessment tools like those they would have in the clinical setting.

Learn more about our newest product,
Ponder™ The Leadership Game

The Leadership Game is geared toward nursing students in their final terms of nursing school and toward new nursing graduates. This game helps prepare learners for the role of charge nurses and managers, having to manage and prioritize multiple patients’ care and staff while facing different leadership challenges. Students roll dice to determine the roles of and how many staff they will be working with as well as how many patients they will have on “the floor”. Patient report cards create the diverse patient populations for the”shift”. Situation cards and a situation die provide additional leadership challenges as the game unfolds. Students must make patient assignments, prioritize care and handle different situations that arise. Students learn to solve problems as teams and have fun doing it in a non-threatening environment.

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