Virtual Reality Training for Healthcare Professionals Erasmus Project

Project Title

Virtual Reality Training for Healthcare Professionals

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Pedagogy and didactics; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

This project aims to develop scenarios for authentic learning with Virtual Reality Devices (VR), developing a Pedagogic Concept, VR Training Framework Software, an Educator’s Handbook and a Suite of Content Modules for training different tasks in nursing education.

The project addresses the complexity of care with its aspects of uncertainty in decision making, which will be experienced by the nursing students through individualized communication, dealing with emotion and different application of a standardized procedure to patients with diverse needs. Through VR, the students will be able to experience the action of a situation rather than reflecting on the action. Thus, a deep level of clinical competency can be trained combined with addressing the human component of individual reaction to the very same intervention. The different project partners will bring their expertise together to develop an underlying pedagogical concept, which guides a transnational agreement for scenario-based learning within virtual nursing environments.
With the development of a pedagogic concept for VR-supported learning situations we will deliver added value for the learner and for the educator. The pedagogic concept leads to theoretical, well-grounded modules in nursing education which are open for the complexity of care. Here we want to widely share VR-supported scenarios and support an enhanced practical orientation in nursing education. Furthermore, the project intends to introduce educators to VR-technology: An easy introduction that will help educators practice and try out VR and have their first experiences with VR-supported learning scenarios that will be supported by well written and detailed documented handbooks. The project will also produce open framework for VR-learning scenarios: with the software we intend to make it easier to create VR scenarios, letting educational developers focus more on the content and not so much on the technology side. Thus, we intend to support greater use of VR in vocational education. This special approach on authentic, multi-perspective scenarios within complex work situations of person-centred professions is unique so far. It fosters the understanding and acceptance of the need for scenario-based nursing education.

The project will be carried out by five institutions from 4 countries (Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Finland). The University of Applied Science in Münster (MSH) is going to be the leading organisation. The profile of MSH shows the strong focus on teacher education for vocational education and training of nurses and other health care professional.
A phenomenological approach will be undertaken by developing the complex scenarios. The continuing formative and summative evaluation applies both a quantitative and qualitative approach.

The project results in the development of a pedagogic concept, which allows the creation of any authentic, multi-perspective and complex scenario. These scenarios are representing realistic nursing practice and the training allows the students to experience the immediate consequences to the taken interaction. The scenarios are embedded in complex modules which focus each on specific clinical areas, such as heart failure, chronic illness, etc.
Additionally, the educator’s handbook will explain the pedagogical approach behind the scenarios of the VR training and it will guide the teachers through the educational process of learning with complex scenarios. Educators are introduced to and well informed about teaching and learning with VR. The handbook offers material for reflecting/ debriefing the VR training to facilitate the addressed nursing specific competencies with deep impact.
Furthermore, the project results in the development of a VR training framework software. This software can be transferred to any professional training within the VET field of person-centred profession. Thus, the project gains great impact on the development of situative learning approaches also within other professions.
To sum up the potential longer-term benefit of this transnational project can be seen in the development of a common agreement on scenario-based nursing education. Here the pedagogical concept of situative, complex learning will be applied to simulation on VR. The framework software and the heuristic for creating complex scenarios show its impact on facilitating professional nursing competencies. However, the approach itself can be transferred and adopted to any other professional VET in the area of person-centered vocations.
We believe, this project has the potential to foster a European exchange of workforce, supporting the Bologna process and EQR in developing standards and quality of higher education across Europe. Future collaboration for teacher and student exchanges will be fostered.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 363371 Eur

Project Coordinator

FH Münster University of Applied Sciences & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Ingenious Knowledge GmbH
• TURUN YLIOPISTO
• VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
• NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY