Virtual Critical Care Unit (VCCU): A Powerful Simulator for e-Learning

Abstract

Overview. Learning clinical skills in nursing is challenging for students and teachers, especially because several security and safety issues could affect the patient in real-live situations. Between learning a theoretical content and practice in the real-life, it appears very important to have concrete meaning of practice and make errors without consequences for others. Hight-fidelity simulation could be useful, but it’s expensive for faculties. However, the benefits of simulation are well documented, particularly about decision making and critical thinking (Cant and Cooper 2010; Harder 2010; Rhodes and Curran 2005), managing patient instability (Cooper et al. 2012), developing leadership and teamwork and improving performance and technical skills. In literature, Virtual reality (VR) could be an acceptable safe alternative and at a relatively low-cost. This technology is now known to be useful for the development of clinical skills such as assessment, intervention, or rehabilitation. Through its ecological approach (their ability to reproduce real life with a good similarity), it constitutes an excellent educational strategy by reducing artificial conditions found in conventional laboratories. Aim: In this paper, we describe an experimentation of the VCCU functionality according to four variables: sense of presence, cybersickness, usability and user experience (UX). Method: In a multiple case-study design, we assessed four participants to explore the feasibility in education for this type of learning. In a 30 min session, participants were immersing in a virtual environment representing an intensive care unit (ICU). They had to practice clinical surveillance process and made adequate nursing interventions. Results: After the experimentation, we observed that the sense of presence was high and cybersickness very low. However, the mental load associated to the task AND the Human-Machin Interface was very high. A qualitative analysis shown that the usability and UX had an impact directly on the learning processes. Discussion: Finally, we will discuss the importance to consider the impact of interfaces on the cognitive functions that impact directly learning capacities according to the perspective of Cognitive Load Theory.