Nursing Students' Experiences of Empathy in a Virtual Reality Simulation Game

Abstract

Empathy is significant in nursing, and showing empathy toward a patient positively impacts a patient's health. Learning empathy through immersive simulations is effective. Immersion is an essential factor in virtual reality. This study aimed to describe nursing students' experiences of empathy in a virtual reality simulation game. Data were collected from nursing students (n = 20) from May 2021 to January 2022. Data collection included individual semistructured interviews; before the interviews, the virtual reality gaming procedure was conducted. Inductive content analysis was used. Nursing students experienced compassion and a feeling of concern in the virtual reality simulation game. Students were willing to help the virtual patient, and they recognized the virtual patient's emotions using methods such as listening and imagining. Students felt the need to improve the patient's condition, and they responded to the virtual patient's emotions with the help of nonverbal and verbal communication and helping methods. Empathy is possible to experience by playing virtual reality simulation games, but it demands technique practicing before entering the virtual reality simulation game.

Exploring Nursing Students’ Experiences of Empathy and User Experiences in an Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation Game: Cross-sectional Study (Preprint)

“…Experiential learning has shown good results in increasing empathy [14] since it focuses on learning through lived or shared experience, and it has been utilized using simulations, role-playing games, and virtual reality (VR) in teaching [5], [10], [14], [15]. A recent systematic review revealed that the application of different modalities of simulation promotes empathy in nursing education [16], while another systematic review demonstrated that for improving empathy, the most effective interventions were immersive and experiential simulations providing opportunities for reflection [17].…”

“…Simulation experiences can reduce the decline in experiencing empathy during training because it gives the student a sense of control and helps identifying professional behavior in patient relationships [18]. In VR simulations, students have been more in the role of a patient [5], [10], [19], [20] than a nurse [15]. Research has shown that the most effective simulation exercises for learning empathy are those in which the learner takes on the role of a patient [18].…”

“…VR has mainly been perceived as an easy-to-use and functional teaching tool [19]. However, nursing students have experienced some technical difficulties in VR simulations, and therefore prior technical practice is required before entering a VR simulation session [15], [28].…”

“…In VR simulations, factors affecting empathy include a sense of presence and the illusion of being in the body of another person [12]. A qualitative study describing undergraduate nursing students' empathy in an immersive VR simulation game found that nursing students experienced empathic concern towards a virtual patient, and they recognized the virtual patient's emotions and responded to those [15]. A systematic review by Bas-Sarmiento et al [14] found variation in empathy levels regarding the different characteristics of healthcare students, such as gender, age, or cultural background.…”

“…The immersive VR simulation game emerged from a collaborative effort across multiple professions within a Finnish UAS. This VR simulation game has been utilized in various studies, including those by Havola et al [27], Mattsson et al [15], and Mäkinen et al [39], demonstrating its efficacy as a learning tool.…”