Exploring Nursing Students' Experiences in a Brief Virtual Reality-Enhanced Workshop: Cross-Sectional Exploratory...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Educational Technology
• Virtual Reality (VR)

Background:

• Limited evidence exists on using brief, optional virtual reality (VR) for foundational nursing concepts in early education.
• Little is known about student and teacher perceptions of VR as a low-stakes, supplemental strategy in nursing programs.
• Investigating VR's pedagogical value and scalability in nursing curricula is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore student and teacher experiences with a brief, optional VR workshop for first-semester nursing students.
• To assess student perceptions of cognitive, social, and teaching presence within the VR learning environment.
• To understand the feasibility and pedagogical value of supplemental VR in early nursing education.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional evaluation at a Swedish university involving a single-session VR workshop.
• Workshop combined VR headset exposures, peer vital-sign practice, and guided debriefing aligned with the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework.
• Data collected via questionnaires (VR perception, CoI instrument) and teacher reflections from a small sample of first-semester nursing students and teachers.

Main Results:

• Most students found VR enhanced analysis, exploration, conceptual understanding, engagement, and relevance.
• Community of Inquiry (CoI) ratings indicated moderately positive perceptions, with cognitive presence highest.
• Students noted links between theory and embodied experience, alongside practical implementation challenges.

Conclusions:

• Brief VR exposures, inquiry, and debriefing were perceived as pedagogically valuable for foundational physiological concepts.
• Structured, low-stakes VR appears feasible as a supplemental strategy in early nursing education.
• Findings suggest potential scalability for VR-enhanced learning within nursing curricula, despite logistical considerations.