User experience and interface assessment for metaverse platforms on nurses and nursing students: A cross-sectional...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Virtual Environments
• Nursing Informatics

Background:

• The metaverse presents emerging opportunities for healthcare education.
• Its effectiveness as a learning tool hinges on user readiness and platform specifics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate metaverse platform adoption among South Korean nurses and nursing students.
• To explore correlations between user characteristics and metaverse experiences (presence, usability, user experience).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional descriptive study involving 428 participants (188 nurses, 240 nursing students).
• Participants explored ZEPETO or Gather platforms and completed online questionnaires assessing self-efficacy, presence, usability, and user experience.

Main Results:

• Most participants had prior metaverse experience, with an average self-efficacy of 3.60.
• Nurses demonstrated higher presence, usability, and user experience scores than nursing students.
• Self-efficacy (work for nurses, academic for students) positively correlated with metaverse experience; platform type also impacted outcomes.

Conclusions:

• A notable percentage of Korean healthcare professionals and students are engaged with the metaverse, aligning with global trends in virtual education.
• The metaverse's potential in healthcare education is significant but contingent on user preparedness, platform design, and structured programs.