BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for alternative practical education methods to supplement traditional nursing training. Multidisciplinary simulation design provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to VR simulation development for effective nursing education.
OBJECTIVE
To develop VR simulation content for a pediatric nursing module based on a multidisciplinary simulation design and to evaluate its feasibility for nursing education
METHODS
VR-based nursing content for pediatric pneumonia was developed by integrating the technological characteristics of VR with the learning elements of traditional nursing simulation, combining various disciplines including education, engineering, and nursing. A user test was conducted with 12 nursing graduates (pre-service nurses) followed by post hoc surveys (assessing presence, VR systems, VR sickness, and simulation satisfaction) and in-depth, one-on-one interviews.
RESULTS
User tests showed mean scores of 4.01 for presence, 4.91 for the VR system, 0.64 for VR sickness, and 5.00 for simulation satisfaction. In-depth interviews revealed that the main strengths of the immersive VR simulation for pediatric pneumonia nursing were effective visualization and direct experience through hands-on manipulation; the drawback was keyword-based voice interaction. To improve VRS quality, participants suggested increasing the number of nursing techniques and refining them in more detail.
CONCLUSIONS
VR simulation content for a pediatric nursing module using a multidisciplinary educational design model has the potential for positive educational effects. Follow-up research is necessary to confirm the specific learning effects of immersive nursing content based on multidisciplinary design models.