Transformation of Traditional Lab-Based Nursing Clinical Practices into Training in Immersive VR

Physical simulation labs for nursing studies in NUS are highly sought after and often expensive to operate in Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Acquisition of clinical skills requires repeated and deliberate practice regardless of training modality. By transforming such clinical skills training into 3D immersive VR, students have a task with a well-refined goal and timely feedback that allows ample opportunities for repetition and refinement of performance. Students can do their practices reiteratively at their own pace in the comfort of their home space, without the usual constraints of time or physical space, especially during challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will reduce their need to revisit the physical simulation labs for practice, especially before their final face-to-face assessment. The development will bring about the digitization, automation of nursing clinical practice, and the empowerment of self-directed learning to nursing students in NUS. It will dramatically change the paradigm of traditional modes of learning in lab-based simulations, and reduce the substantial costs of operating physical labs and manpower availability in the faculty. The faculty aims to make such learning opportunities readily available where students can benefit from increased efficacy and confidence in clinical practice.