Nursing students use virtual reality to enhance their skills: 'Brings fun to learning'

Virtual reality isn't just for video games. 

Some nursing students in St. Louis are using it to practice high-tech training without the need for real patients.

Goldfarb School of Nursing has integrated VR into its curriculum to give students a chance to hone skills in a different way. 

Katie Jett, program director at Goldfarb, said virtual reality not only helps students with clinical skills but also makes learning more engaging. 

"But when you think about how people are connecting, how adolescents and young adults are connecting, a lot of it is through virtual experiences and gaming and technology."

Zykita Deal, a nursing student at Goldfarb, shared how she practiced delivering advice to a virtual patient. 

"He could keep his wife's memory alive" this way, she added.

Students gear up with VR goggles and controllers to perform a variety of tasks, while instructors select responses for virtual patients, creating realistic scenarios that challenge students.

Lesley Schwartz, another nursing student, said the technology helps her prepare for real-world situations. 

"There's going to be times when the vitals are going to be conveniently close to you," she said. 

"There's going to be times when you're going to have to go get a vital cart to come into the room with. And it just kind of helps with your preparedness. When you get thrown into the virtual reality, you don't get a brief as to where everything is."

Research by Wolters Kluwer indicates that 65% of nursing education programs use VR in some capacity. 

Goldfarb combines VR training with full-body patient simulators, providing an engaging learning experience.

"It brings fun to learning and that way you're not just always sitting behind a desk and hearing someone talk," Deal said.

Jett plans to expand the program, incorporating more advanced nursing scenarios to further enhance student training.