Interprofessional Team Training With Virtual Reality: Acceptance, Learning Outcome, and Feasibility Evaluation Study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Simulation-Based Training
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• Effective interprofessional teamwork is crucial for high-quality patient care, particularly in emergency medicine.
• Traditional interprofessional education often lacks meaningful interaction between healthcare disciplines.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a resource-efficient and flexible alternative to in-person simulation for team training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an interprofessional team (INTEAM) training course using VR simulation.
• To assess the acceptance, learning outcomes, and feasibility of the VR-based training for nursing and medical students.
• To improve skills in managing neurological emergencies requiring interprofessional collaboration and structured handover.

Main Methods:

• A 1-group pre- and posttest design was used to evaluate a 2-hour INTEAM training course.
• The course comprised e-learning, VR simulation of a neurological emergency, and debriefing.
• Validated questionnaires, pre- and posttests, and open questions assessed acceptance, learning, and feasibility.

Main Results:

• The VR training demonstrated good usability, usefulness, and ease of use among students.
• Significant improvements were observed in handover performance and confidence in managing seizure patients post-training.
• Despite technical issues in 67% of simulations, all were completed, indicating feasibility.

Conclusions:

• The VR-based INTEAM training course was well-received by nursing and medical students.
• The training effectively improved handover skills and confidence in managing seizure patients.
• VR simulation is a feasible and promising approach for interprofessional team training in medical education.