THE EFFECT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING FOR NURSING STUDENTS BY AUGMENTED REALITY SIMULATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Abstract Background Educational methods for improving communication with dementia patients are lacking. Our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of simulated communication skills training for nursing students using augmented reality (AR). Methods A randomized controlled study. 25 nursing students enrolled and learned standardized multimodal communication skills using textbooks. Participants were randomly assigned to AR training or conventional mannequin training group and each had one-hour training of basic nursing care. The mannequin of AR group was superimposed a computer graphic of an elderly woman's face, which reacts to participants' communication. Further, participants’ gaze and voice were evaluated by artificial intelligence (AI) and the participants received real-time feedback to their head-mounted display. The conventional group had the self-training with nursing mannequins. Participants performed basic nursing care to simulated patients before and after training, which were video-recorded by eye-tracking cameras and fixed cameras, then the videos were analyzed by AI. The primary outcome was the proportion of eye contact, verbal, and multimodal communication time during the care to simulated patients. Additionally, participants' empathy was evaluated by the Jefferson Scale. Results The interactive communication in AR group significantly increased than conventional group (eye contact 13.6% versus 4.4%, verbal communication 27.7% versus 20.1%, multimodal communication 9.6% versus 3.8%, P< 0.05, respectively). The empathy score significantly increased in AR group, whereas it decreased in conventional group [Mean (SD): 9.1 (6.6) versus -1.3 (3.8), P< 0.01]. Conclusions The simulated communication skills training for nursing students using AR was associated with increased interactive communication skills and empathy to patients.