Background Baccalaureate nursing students rarely have the opportunity to practice emergency response skills. Simulation gives students the ability to practice emergency procedures in an environment that is safe. Method Nursing students’ skills accuracy and confidence ratings were assessed before and after an instructional module that incorporated a mnemonic, named ABCD-COPIME, to improve emergency response techniques to a simulated code blue scenario. Seven nursing students completed 7 trials of responding to a code blue simulation. After each trial, skill accuracy was assessed with a skills checklist, and after Trials 1, 4, and 7, each student’s confidence was measured by self-report. A 20-minute intervention introducing the ABCD-COPIME mnemonic was inserted after Trial 3. Results Both skills accuracy and self-reported confidence ratings significantly increased after introduction of the mnemonic (95% improvement in mean skills accuracy scores). Furthermore, analyses revealed that these changes were not due to practice effects. Conclusion This study supports the accumulating body of evidence that suggests that simulated training exercises are important for improving skills and confidence in responding to emergency situations. Moreover, results suggest that the ABCD-COPIME mnemonic training technique substantially improves both the skills accuracy of students and their self-reported confidence when responding to a code blue simulation.