Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) face significant challenges when transitioning to higher education in Canada, including difficulties with academic writing, critical appraisal of research, and proper citation formatting. These barriers contribute to feelings of marginalization and hinder professional integration, undermining the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality).

This presentation presents the development and usability testing of a Virtual Serious Game (VSG) addressing these challenges through an innovative integration of clinical and academic skill development. Based on Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development, the VSG operates within students' Zone of Proximal Development by embedding academic writing and critical appraisal tasks within an authentic end-of-life care scenario, providing the necessary social mediation to advance learning.

Our evaluation employs a rigorous user-centered design approach. During the refinement phase, IEN students (n=9) participated in iterative usability testing across three cycles using the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction (QUIS). This 5-point Likert scale assessment evaluated learnability, efficiency, error prevention support, and overall user satisfaction. Research indicates this approach can identify approximately 80% of potential usability issues with 5-9 participants.

The VSG scaffolds learning through progressive challenges, beginning with thesis development and paper structure, advancing to theory application and critical appraisal using CASP tools, and culminating in APA formatting tasks. Clinical decision-making is seamlessly integrated throughout, enhancing the authenticity and relevance of academic tasks.

This educational innovation is currently being developed as a scalable, open-access resource to support equitable education for IENs while demonstrating how academic and clinical skills can be effectively integrated in nursing education. Future work will include implementation and effectiveness evaluation.

Keywords: Internationally Educated Nurses, Virtual Serious Games, Usability Testing, Educational Satisfaction, Scaffolded Learning.