by Juliet Kolde, PhD, RN, CNE and Jeffrey Olsen, PhD
Dr. Juliet Kolde is a visionary nursing education leader dedicated to increasing knowledge and practice of nursing within the clinical and educational realms. She is skilled in driving innovative curriculum changes to narrow the gaps in practice-theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion within nursing education. Dr. Kolde currently serves in the role of President, Nightingale Innovations for Nightingale Education Group. Her 25+ years of nursing experience include critical care, pediatrics, school nursing, community health, informatics, nursing education and leadership and nursing curriculum development. She maintains professional memberships in the National League for Nursing (NLN) and Sigma Theta Tau.
Dr. Jeffrey Olsen currently serves as the President, Nightingale College. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences from Utah State University, a Master of Science degree in Instructional Design and Technology from Western Illinois University, and a Master of Arts degree in Secondary Social Studies Education with teacher certification from Pacific Lutheran University. His undergraduate education was completed at Brigham Young University. He has 20 years of experience in educational settings including public schools, Research 1 universities, regional health care system education, non-profit universities, and for-profit university environments.
Nightingale College’s continuous focus on innovative, evidence-based design keeps the organization disrupting the curricular status quo with new higher education approaches and curriculum resources. In one initiative, the College partnered with Oxford Medical Simulation (OMS) to implement a multi-phase rollout of the use of virtual reality (VR) to deliver a hands-on, simulated nurse training environment. Learners use VR headsets to apply their skills and knowledge in the safety of a virtual environment that mimics real-life nursing situations. They are immersed in typical nursing scenarios, including diagnosing patients, instigating treatments, and interacting with the interdisciplinary team of virtual avatars. They may repeat experiences as often as they like, with the system offering multiple adapted outcomes based on their responses to fully interactive, simulated patients and their family members. They also receive personalized feedback, performance metrics, and a synchronous faculty facilitated debrief. Initial pilot data indicated excellent student feedback and improved outcomes in critical thinking and clinical reasoning, and data from the full program rollout of this resource continues to trend upward. The College continually searches for new ways to innovate in nursing education through its full-distance education model to improve outcomes and solve issues across the nursing profession, including the nursing shortage. This allows for effective execution of the institutional mission and contributes to the realization of health equity.
Within this paper, the authors will share the multiphase approach toward implementation of the use of VR in nursing curriculum and discuss the challenges and interventions implemented between the initial pilot, previously presented, and full program rollout. The presenters will share updated data around learners’ improvement in clinical reasoning skills using VR and testimonies of learner experience throughout the program. Additionally, the authors plan to discuss future augmentation of this initiative, including partnering in the creation of customized VR solutions based on identified curriculum gaps.