VR Training for Nursing
Training medical healthcare practitioners in Virtual Reality is really taking off.
The great thing about Oxford Medical Simulations is that the co-founders are medical people, most of their staff are medical people, so they really understand their clients (all medical people).
They’ve worked with dozens of institutions such as Boston Children’s Hospital, where they provide VR training to prepare nurses for the hectic pace of working life in the cardiac Intensive Care Unit.
Training in the live environment continues as normal, but is supplemented by training in the VR headset where rare scenarios can be practiced over and over again.
The feedback from trainee nurses has been overwhelmingly positive, with the majority saying they felt much more confident when real life emergencies took place.
“ “We expect VR simulation to take its place alongside physical simulation as a standard means for new people to train in and also experienced clinicians to learn new things.” ”
Closer to home, nurses at the University of the East London have also been availing themselves of the benefits of VR training, this time in the context of forming part of their three year Nursing B.Sc.
Feedback from participants was, again, universally positive. One recurring theme was that it made nurses feel more familiar with the soft skills required for speaking with patients and fellow healthcare practitioners.
“Learners enjoy VR & OMS because it…builds up their confidence. It allows them to make mistakes where they can learn from them – in a safe environment.”
Notably, NHS England were delighted with the sharp increase in confidence of nurses dealing with diabetic emergencies that resulted from training in VR created by OMS.
It’s not just nursing that is benefiting from VR training. In the below video an anaesthetist, Dr Sally Shiels, who trains doctors at the University of Oxford describes the benefits that she is seeing in terms of facilitating better decision making in the operating room…
Next week we’ll cover a VR training company very close to my heart. London and Boston-based Fundamental VR.
