Virtual reality enhances nursing students' skills: 'Makes learning enjoyable'

St. Louis, MO - Virtual reality has applications beyond video games.

In St. Louis, some nursing students are utilizing high-tech training without the necessity of real patients.

The Goldfarb School of Nursing has incorporated VR into its curriculum to enable students to develop their abilities in a unique manner.

This technology is helping future health care workers prepare more effectively and efficiently as the demand for nurses continues to rise, with McKinsey & Company projecting a shortage of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses next year.

Katie Jett, Goldfarb's program director, stated that virtual reality not only enhances clinical skills but also increases engagement during learning.

Jett explained to Planet Chronicle that the new way of connecting and communicating can be unsettling for older individuals because it differs from the traditional methods they are used to.

"Through virtual experiences, gaming, and technology, adolescents and young adults are primarily connecting."

Besides medical duties, VR simulations aid students in honing their communication and bedside manner skills.

A nursing student at Goldfarb, Zykita Deal, revealed how she honed her skills in giving advice to a virtual patient through practice.

VR simulations help students practice their communication and bedside manner.

Deal shared with him advice on improving his eating habits, establishing a better routine with his medications, and reducing loneliness by suggesting ways to maintain a connection with his son and create meals together, as his wife used to do.

She added that he could keep his wife's memory alive.

Students put on VR goggles and hold controllers to tackle various tasks, as instructors choose virtual patient responses to create authentic scenarios that test students.

Another nursing student, Lesley Schwartz, stated that the technology aids her in preparing for real-life scenarios.

She stated that there will be instances when the vitals will be easily accessible to you.

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"You will need to retrieve a crucial cart on occasion to enter the room. This can aid in your readiness. When immersed in virtual reality, you are not given a heads-up on where everything is located."

According to research by Wolters Kluwer, 65% of nursing education programs incorporate virtual reality in some form.

VR training and full-body patient simulators are combined by Goldfarb to create an immersive learning experience.

Learning becomes enjoyable with the incorporation of fun, preventing monotony and the need to always sit behind a desk and listen to someone speak, according to Deal.

Jett intends to enhance student training by incorporating more advanced nursing scenarios into the program.