Be Ahead of the Game! A Systematic Review on Serious Games Aiming to Enhance Hospital Management Knowledge and Health Care Administrative Skills Acquisition

Abstract

Serious games are pedagogic tools aiming to serve educational or informative purposes by incorporating fun aspects of games with serious elements of learning. Serious games are an emerging trend in medical and nursing education since they provide the ideal opportunity to increase knowledge and enhance decision-making and problem-solving skills by actively involving learners. However, serious game initiatives on hospital management education have been given less attention. This is the first contemporary systematic review addressing the significant research gap by synthesizing existing evidence on serious games in the hospital management field, to highlight their potential in enhancing managerial and administrative skills. Robust search algorithms were implemented in Scopus and PubMed yielding 892 results. Overall, 36 serious games emerged with half of them being digital. Regarding game design, most were multiplayer games, while several required team collaboration. Serious games’ main learning target was categorized according to Katz’s three-skill approach for effective administration, including technical, interpersonal, and conceptual skills acquisition. Serious game learning activity type, teaching subject, and geographical distribution were also explored. The findings stimulate interest and increase awareness of using serious games to enhance hospital personnel’s knowledge and skills in managerial roles and administrative processes. Furthermore, the review intended to inspire academics and health care policymakers to convey administrative skills and basic management concepts to various hospital employees and health care/management students through game-based learning.