Code Shift: Room 12

What it is

The unit went into lockdown at shift change, and you are sealed in Room 12 with Mr. Alvarez: pneumonia, day 2, lactate 4.2, and a MAP that is not where it needs to be. To get out you have to search the room, unlock what is locked, and treat him as his condition shifts.

Tap everything: the monitor, the IV pump, the whiteboard, the drawers, the med cart, the trash, even his wristband. Collect items in your bag and use them where they belong. You will program the sepsis bolus on the pump, read a crumpled MAR page, pick antibiotics that are safe with his penicillin allergy, and give the provider an SBAR update.

Four sticky notes hide a symbol and a digit each. The exit door shows the symbol order. But the door will not open while he is unstable, wrong or unsafe care costs time, hints cost a minute, and a code costs two. Pick Student (25 minutes), Nurse (20), or Charge nurse (15).

What you'll learn

• Recognize sepsis and septic shock from vitals, lactate, and perfusion findings
• Work toward a MAP goal of 65 or higher
• Program an IV pump for a fluid bolus by total volume
• Check allergies before antibiotics and choose a safe alternative
• Read a MAR and catch timing clues
• Give a clear SBAR update to the provider
• Know when to call a code

How it helps you

NCLEX tests clinical judgment, using NCSBN's Clinical Judgment Measurement Model. Every NURSYN game is built on the nursing process. Code Shift: Room 12 works these ADPIE steps: Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation.

• Covers the whole nursing process: assess the room and patient, name the problem, plan, act, and re-check as he changes
• Builds the NCJMM habit of evaluating outcomes, because the door literally stays locked until your care works
• Ties allergy checks and high-alert pump programming to consequences you can feel
• Great for teams: talking through each clue out loud is clinical reasoning practice

How to play

1. Choose your difficulty and clock in
2. Tap objects in the room to search them and collect items
3. Use items by tapping the item, then tapping where it goes
4. Assess and treat Mr. Alvarez as his vitals drift and new problems appear
5. Find all 4 sticky notes, stabilize him, and enter the exit code

Clinical topics covered

Sources

The clinical content and the teaching approach behind this game line up with these references.

1. Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2021Society of Critical Care Medicine. The adult sepsis and septic shock guideline: early recognition, fluids, antibiotics, and MAP targets.
2. High-Alert Medications in Acute Care SettingsInstitute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). The ISMP list of drugs that can cause serious harm when used in error, with safeguards.
3. TeamSTEPPS Tool: SBARAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). How care teams use Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation to communicate about a patient.
4. NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement ModelNCSBN. The framework NCSBN uses to measure clinical judgment and decision making on the NCLEX.
5. Game-thinking: utilizing serious games and gamification in nursing education, a systematic review and meta-analysis (Nylén-Eriksen et al., 2025). BMC Medical EducationBMC Medical Education. Pooled studies show serious games and gamification work in nursing education, with the strongest benefit for knowledge and a more modest effect on skills.