An Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation Scenario to Improve Empathy in Nursing Students

Empathy is essential in nursing practice and can be taught throughout nursing curriculum using a variety of methods including clinical experiences, in-person simulation, virtual reality, and didactic lecture. Empathy can also change over time, often decreasing the longer nurses practice. A cohort of upper-level nursing students viewed a short immersive virtual reality simulation as part of routine curriculum and completed the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire before viewing (time 1), 2 weeks later (time 2), and, for a small cohort, several months later (time 3). The sample included 110 undergraduate nursing students. There were no improvements in Toronto Empathy Questionnaire scores from time 1 to time 2. There was no improvement from time 1 to time 3 for the cohort who completed the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire three times. There were no significant differences in Toronto Empathy Questionnaire scores between cohorts for any measurement times. Total mean empathy scores were comparatively high in this study and did not decline over time. Although this virtual reality simulation scenario appears to have protected against decline in empathy, it may have been insufficient to foster an increase in empathy scores. Empathic training needs to be immersed throughout their nursing education in both didactic and clinical settings.