VR Simulation Training for Better Patient Outcomes

Learning and training hold significant places in our lives, but when it comes to learning healthcare skills the need for highly effective training content becomes a must. After all there are lives at stake here. There was a time when apprenticeship, cadavers and maniki-based training were the best options available to gain practical experience. Technology has developed and now we have improved methods of training that deliver effective results. Training in virtual environments or VR simulation training has made inroads into the field of medical education.

What is VR Simulation Training?

It takes no brainer to understand that the best way to learn and develop crucial life-saving medical skill is through practical practice. Mere theoretical knowledge is not going to be enough to help a understand the intricacies of a medical procedure. The result of actions must be experienced to understand the procedure and learn how to perform it properly. VR simulations help provide this experience. It consists of a digitally created real world scenario with a virtual patient and is equipped with equipment to perform procedures and manage healthcare cases.

As part of a VR simulation training, users wear a VR headset, step into this virtual environment and become a part of it. They can move around in the virtual space, interact with the environment and communicate with the virtual patient. Using the virtual equipment provided to them, they can perform patient care procedures as they would in any real-world set up. This provides them with experiential learning opportunities which they can replicate in the real world.

Benefits of VR Simulation in Healthcare

While this form of training is becoming increasingly popular in a number of fields for various skills, it holds significant value in the field of healthcare training.

1. Wide Range of Real World Experiences – As a trainee, it is quite likely that a learner is not exposed to a wide variety of medical cases that they may encounter in the future. This shortcoming can be overcome by providing them training in virtually created scenarios that replicate those conditions. Having experienced them in virtual training sessions they would be familiar with the cases and be in a better position to manage them, when faced with them in real-life.
2. Safe and Controlled Environment – When treating patients, it is the life of the patient that is at stake and requires a skilled and experienced practitioner to handle the case. To gain this experience and confidence, learners can perform in safe and controlled virtual spaces with virtual patients. An error in a surgery will not harm the virtual patient but will serve as lessons to be learned and remembered.
3. Real Time Feedback – Every task performed in a virtual simulation is accompanied by feedback in real-time. When managing a case of anaphylaxis, a wrong move will worsen the patient’s condition and the correct steps will see the patient recovering. The session-end debriefing provided a detailed analysis of the user’s performance help self-analyse and understand the areas needing improvement.
4. Accessible, Scalable, Affordable – When using VR simulation training for medical procedures all that is required is a VR headset and training can be taken in anywhere, anytime. This form of training eliminates the need to maintain elaborate facilities with expensive equipment. When training in a virtual environment, real-world equipment is not required saving them from wear and tear suffered in training sessions.

VR simulation training is changing the way medical skills are being learned, practiced and developed. Healthcare simulation providers like MedVR Education are making it possible to provide learners with quality training experiences that can further lead to better patient outcomes.