Multimodal Palliative Education Integrated With Cutting-Edge Technology for Acute Care Nurses

Background: The lack of palliative care education and communication among frontline nurses impacts care for patients with advanced chronic diseases. Literature suggested that additional educational approaches positively influence nurses' knowledge and communication. Objective: The aim of this study was to augment their understanding of palliative care and enhance their self-efficacy in palliative care communication by an innovative educational intervention tailored for acute care nurses. Methods: A total of 13 participants completed multimodal education, including a 50-minute recorded lecture, a virtual reality-based clinical vignette, and a laminated infographic badge. Four outcomes were measured pre- and postimplementation. Results: Engagement in palliative care discussions was increased by approximately 24.4%. More than 60% of participants expressed extreme presence in a virtual reality environment, and 92% of them would use virtual reality again in the future. Conclusion: Multimodal palliative education integrated with cutting-edge technology successfully helped acute care nurses engage in more palliative care discussion. Virtual reality was well accepted as an educational method. Expanding this educational approach may increase utilization of palliative care services, reduce health care costs, and prevent human suffering from unnecessary medical services near the end of life. Implications for Nursing: Innovative approaches to palliative care education such as virtual reality can be used as a successful educational modality for registered nurses.