VR nurse training could be most effective

Immersive virtual reality (VR) training has been shown to be as effective as inpatient training for nursing students learning to provide care for acute care paediatric patients, according to a pilot study.

The study by Bethany Cieslowski, Associate Professor of Nursing in George Mason University’s College of Public Health, found the performance of student nurses who underwent immersive virtual reality training was better overall than that of their counterparts who received inpatient clinical training.

Nursing schools are developing new approaches to optimise learning, engage learners and provide methods to ensure competency in future nursing graduates.

“The use of VR continues to grow in clinical nursing practice; however, the existing body of evidence on VR, especially immersive virtual reality, is limited. These preliminary results offer promise and demonstrate the potential of immersive virtual reality in the future of nursing education and preparing the workforce of the future,” Cieslowski said.

The average scores for students in the immersive VR training group were higher for all performance domains, with particularly notable improvements in the subdomains of infection control, initial assessment and oxygen therapy compared to the clinic trained group.

There were no significant differences between the groups in focused assessment, medication administration and evaluation.

Total performance scores were significantly higher for the VR group.

The mixed-methods without randomisation pilot study examined the effectiveness of an immersive VR simulation training program to replace paediatric clinical practice for a convenience sample of junior-level pre-licensure nursing students.

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