Virtual Reality and its use in surgical nursing training : a literature review into the effectiveness of Virtual Reality as a new practical educational method for training Registered Nurses in surgical nursing

Abstract

The general purpose of this thesis was to review the literature available to Virtual Reality to ascertain if the technology has a possibility to augment or become a more effective way to train Registered Nurse students in a surgical room setting. To measure effectiveness, responses of student confidence in a surgical room setting were taken. The example of surgery to be used as the benchmark is orthopedic knee replacement surgery. The research information stemmed from different forms of internet searches on Google and NCBI using the keywords of the Thesis. Articles and research papers had to be preferably between the years of 2014 and 2020, yet some loopholes were made to text that were older but relevant to the topic. When possible, the articles were preferably peer reviewed and relevant to the thesis.

Results indicated from the gathered research papers and materials, that VR is somewhat effective in the training of surgical student nurses, yet the technology is not perfect in this situation. Virtual Reality technology requires more ironing out of the problems that plague usage of the technology such as Cybersickness and the high startup costs that drive away educational institutions from making such an investment. Furthermore, Virtual Reality is a tool that does not completely guarantee success for student nurses in the surgical room. Additionally, to improve the problems of nursing student’s lack of self-confidence and performance in a surgical room, other factors need to be given a larger point of focus such as communication and self-confidence for which Virtual Reality improves upon marginally but not wholesomely. The position of Virtual Reality is a tool of improvement but not one that promises to give students more positive and fruitful experience than mannequin-based simulations for practical educational purposes. This thesis provides an overview of factors that go into Virtual Reality usage for surgical room training using different factors.