Nurses' Knowledge and Skills After Use of an Augmented Reality App for Advanced Cardiac Life Support Training:...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Nursing Education
• Augmented Reality Applications

Background:

• Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) skills are critical for nurses.
• Augmented reality (AR) was explored to enhance medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic, improving motivation and accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of AR in improving crash cart learning, motivation, cognitive load, and usability.
• To assess AR's impact on nurses with less than two years of experience.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial compared an AR-based ACLS crash cart training system with traditional instruction.
• Participants included 102 nurses, with subgroup analysis for those with less than two years of experience.

Main Results:

• The AR group showed significantly better overall ACLS and crash cart learning outcomes than the control group (P=.002; P=.01).
• Nurses with less than two years of experience demonstrated the most substantial improvements with AR (P<.001).
• The AR group reported high motivation and system usability, with low cognitive load.

Conclusions:

• AR-based learning is highly effective for improving ACLS knowledge and skills, especially for novice nurses.
• The study highlights AR's potential for widespread use in nursing education due to its usability and motivational benefits.