New Nurse Self-assessed Clinical Competence, Immersion, and Attitudes Following Virtual Reality Training on the Assessment of Pediatric Respiratory Distress

Abstract

BackgroundNurse residency programs continually identify needs to enhance educational experiences for new nurses to build clinical competence when transitioning to practice. Virtual reality (VR) based education may play an important role in this experience. MethodsIn this prospective cohort educational study nurses (n = 83) participated in a VR experience on the assessment of pediatric respiratory distress and failure, followed by a survey assessing demographics, retrospective pre/post self-assessment of competence, immersion, and attitudes toward VR. ResultsThe VR curriculum significantly improved nurses’ self-assessed competence in the recognition and management of respiratory distress and failure. Participants endorsed that the VR experience mimicked real-life patient experiences, was more effective than traditional education modalities, accurately depicted, reinforced, and would influence future care of patients with respiratory distress and failure. ConclusionsFindings suggest the VR curriculum improved nurse perception of their ability to care for patients with respiratory distress and failure. VR may represent a new modality for training new nurses on the clinical assessment of respiratory distress and failure.