1. Home
  2. Peer Review Search Results: Health Sciences
  3. Peer Review: Emergency Severity Index Escape Toolkit

Peer Review

Emergency Severity Index Escape Toolkit

Reviewed:

May 8, 2026 by Health Sciences
Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.8 stars
Content Quality: 4.8 stars
Effectiveness: 5.0 stars
Ease of Use: 4.8 stars
Overview:

This is an escape room activity that teaches students how to recognize time sensitive clinical conditions using the Emergency Severity Index. It teaches clinical reasoning, prioritization, and triage. It includes an engaging YouTube presentation, digital escape room activity, and a Who Wants to be a Billionaire-style game.

Type of Material:

  • Online Course Module
Recommended Uses:

  • Standalone online learning
  • Classroom activity
  • Supplement to simulation-based education
  • Individual or small group
Technical Requirements:

  • Word
  • Internet access
  • Web browser
Identify Major Learning Goals:

After active engagement with the material, the learner will

  • 1. Apply the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) algorithm to categorize patients based on acuity and resource needs.
  • 2. Identify sources of bias in triage and describe strategies to minimize its impact on clinical decision making.
  • 3. Determine appropriate patient resources.
  • 4. Recognize one’s own implicit and explicit biases and implement strategies to mitigate their influence on triage assessments.
Target Student Population:

  • Pre-licensure nursing students, novice ED nurses, and other interested healthcare workers
  • College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional nursing and healthcare learners
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

  • Learners should have a basic understanding of triage principles, foundational nursing assessment skills, and common clinical presentations
  • Nursing knowledge
  • Basic computer skills to navigate through the scenarios

 

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Interactive
  • The video explaining the ESI algorithm is thorough 
  • This module uses sound teaching principles to guide learners in using the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) to identify resources, recognize high-risk patients, and develop bias awareness. 
  • Rationale provided after each scenario
  • Content is well designed in an educational approach to training, with engagement through scenario-based decision-making, embedding clinical clues, and immediate feedback to strengthen triage reasoning, prioritization, and clinical judgement.
  • Unique and timely, innovative. 
Concerns:

  • Consider including references to promote credibility
  • Including the specific learning objectives would be helpful

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The teaching-learning goals are well identified in the YouTube video, increasing the potential for learning in a sound conceptual manner.
  • Use of the escape room format and game promotes understanding, reinforces concepts, and enhances learning effectiveness.
  • Instructors and students can use the material in a variety of ways.
  • Easy to access, clear.
  • Helps students enhance their ability to think critically, anticipate resource needs, and prioritize through case studies (Recognize cues, analyze the cues, generate solutions (resources). The provided scenarios include various life-span processes. 
  • The materials are grounded in evidence-based guidance from the Emergency Nurses Association. The course can be used for preparation for clinical or simulation activities, in-class activities, or as part of a bias-awareness module.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • This online course module is engaging and student-friendly. The tech works well and intuitively.
  • Clean layout and support provide easy navigation. The software is highly robust, and the site is operational.
  • The game was very easy to utilize. No issues with the links provided. 
  • Simple to play on YouTube.
  • There are four items for this material submission. One is a YouTube video that includes closed captioning and is accessible. The Word document: Student Outline is fully accessible. The Billionaire Game includes selectable text, and the images do not include alt text. The Escape Game file is the fourth file and does not appear to be accessible.
Concerns:

  • The Billionaire Game images lack alt text. 
  • The Escape Game file appears to be inaccessible. (The inspect option is not accessible for checking.) However, other forms, such as the accessible YouTube video, could be used.
Other Issues and Comments:

  • This unique and innovative educational module will be helpful for learners across health care disciplines. 
Creative Commons:
creative-commonscreative-commons by