Feasibility and Acceptability of Virtual Reality Intensive Care Unit Orientations.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Intensive care unit (ICU) environments can be intimidating for visitors due to unfamiliar equipment and complex treatments.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a potential solution to familiarize visitors with the ICU setting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of VR orientation for ICU visitors.
• To compare VR orientation with standard orientation methods.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, within-subject experimental design was employed.
• Participants experienced a 3-minute VR orientation and completed surveys on feasibility and acceptability.
• Feasibility and acceptability scores were compared between VR and standard orientation.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in the mean feasibility scores between VR and standard orientation (13.3 vs 13.0).
• No significant differences were found in the mean acceptability scores between VR and standard orientation (11.9 vs 12.0).
• 37% of participants reported experiencing dizziness during the VR orientation, with most cases rated as mild.

Conclusions:

• VR orientation is a feasible and acceptable method for familiarizing visitors with the ICU environment.
• Further research is recommended to explore VR orientation in other hospital settings.