Opportunities for Managing Pain and Anxiety in the Intensive Care Unit Using Virtual Reality: Perspectives from...

Virtual reality (VR) is a promising nonpharmacological tool to decrease pain and anxiety in the intensive care unit (ICU). Limited work, however, has been conducted on the functional implications of using VR to support intubated ICU patients. This study aimed to gather ICU providers' perspectives on implementing VR in the ICU to understand potential challenges and establish measurable outcomes.

This was an exploratory qualitative study. ICU bedside care providers were shown how VR technology would look on an intubated mannequin, had the opportunity to experience VR, and took part in a semistructured interview.

Participants (n = 16) expressed an overall willingness to use VR in the ICU with intubated patients, indicating that VR may be particularly beneficial for prolonged intubation, but less optimal during extubation. Potential challenges included patient eligibility for use, informed consent, provider buy-in and workflow, and appropriateness of VR hardware/software.

Successful adoption of VR in the ICU is contingent on provider involvement in designing staff training, best practices, and standard workflow for administering and evaluating the intervention. Although many concerns described by providers in our sample have potential solutions, staff preparation and family involvement remain critical to reducing the complexity of staff workflow for administering this intervention.