Airway Olympics: A gamified simulation-based approach to support engagement and self-reported airway-management capability in undergraduate nursing education

Background Engaging large undergraduate cohorts in airway-management learning presents challenges for simulation-based education. Methods Third-year nursing students participated in Airway Olympics, a gamified, station-based learning activity. A single-group pre-post evaluation used researcher-developed surveys completed before and after the activity. The intervention integrated progressive task complexity, hands-on practice, peer collaboration, online resources and a facilitated debrief. Five-point Likert items were analyzed individually as ordinal data. Results There were 348 pre-activity and 347 post-activity responses; 258 were uniquely matched. Across nine paired items, students reported statistically significant improvements in self-reported knowledge, confidence and perceived capability related to airway management (valid paired n=173-175; all Holm-adjusted p < .001). Post activity engagement and usability items showed high agreement (83.3%-92.9%; n=310–313). Aim To evaluate third-year nursing students' self-reported knowledge, confidence and perceived capability in airway management before and after Airway Olympics, and their post-activity perceptions of engagement and inclusion. Conclusion Airway Olympics is a low-cost, scalable approach that may support self-reported airway-management confidence and engagement in large-cohort nursing education. Objective performance outcomes were not measured.