Nursing simulation games for students and practitioners: three games compared

Nursing simulation games range from a real-time sepsis game to a library of virtual patient scenarios. Three with an official page are compared below. Each page was opened in November 2026.

None of the three pages states a price. Septris 2.0 and the Blood Typing Game show a play offer; vSim sends interested schools to a Laerdal information page.

In Septris 2.0 the player manages ten sepsis patients in real time, choosing a patient, reading vitals, history and labs, and applying treatments. Correct treatment earns bonus points, wrong treatment costs points, and a patient who reaches the bottom of the screen dies. The maker says the game aims to enhance sepsis management skills with a focus on early identification and evidence-based management, and that it is designed for healthcare professionals. Credit is available: up to 2.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits and up to 2.0 ANCC contact hours, claimed through a Stanford CME portal. It runs best on iPad or Android tablets; on a desktop it needs a current Firefox, Chrome or Safari with pop-ups allowed.

The Blood Typing Game comes with three tutorials: what a blood type is, how to determine a patient's blood type and how to perform safe transfusions. The page notes that the game allows three attempts for learning purposes, since a wrong blood type is life-threatening in real care, and that it won the best game category at the Swedish Learning Awards in 2012.

NextGen vSim for Nursing is a line of teaching resources with virtual patient simulation scenarios authored by the National League for Nursing. Each comes with pre- and post-simulation quizzes and guided reflection questions, and the Clinical Judgment in Action feature adds pause-and-reflect moments. Content areas include gerontology, health assessment, maternity, medical-surgical, mental health, pediatrics and pharmacology.

Each maker's page is read. All three pages showed the real page in November 2026. The original Septris address forwards to its current page, septris.html. A game whose status is unconfirmed is left out.

Nursing education trains assessment, prioritizing among several patients, noticing a patient who is getting worse and safe practice in tasks such as transfusion. A first attempt cannot be made on a real patient, and a clinical placement may not offer a given emergency. A screen-based game gives the learner a place to make mistakes where nobody is harmed. The Blood Typing Game says as much on its page, noting that a wrong blood type is life-threatening in real care.

The three differ most in who they are for. Septris 2.0 is designed for healthcare professionals, offers credit and runs best on tablets, so it suits a clinician who wants a short sepsis drill. The Blood Typing Game suits a student meeting transfusion for the first time, since it starts with tutorials and allows three attempts. NextGen vSim for Nursing is offered to nursing programs, so a single learner cannot simply start it, and no trial or price is on the page.

Platform needs a check as well. Septris 2.0 asks for a current Firefox, Chrome or Safari with pop-ups allowed on a desktop. For routine in an outpatient clinic, Medical Assisting Shift on this site is a time-management game and not a nursing simulation. The entries for Septris 2.0 and The Blood Typing Game give more detail.

Each nursing simulation game above carries the label it had in the month shown in its checked column; the games directory explains what every label means. The label Offered to nursing programs means a maker's page presents the product to programs and gives no way for an individual to start it.