VR system for patient training

Health workers began to learn how to work with violent patients in virtual reality

On June 6, 2022, researchers at the National University of Singapore announced the development and implementation of a virtual reality learning system that allows medical staff to learn how to cope with excited or aggressive patients.

Patients, especially those with mental health conditions, can be unstable, so it is important for medical staff to learn how to treat such patients with empathy and efficiency. This new system is designed to mimic common scenarios for trained nurses and doctors and allows them to avoid mistakes without causing harm or creating dangerous situations. The system is quite complex and mimics the usual distractions encountered in busy medical units to make the experience as realistic as possible.

Mishandling a violent patient can pose a risk to both other patients and staff, as physical and verbal assaults on medical staff tend to occur frequently. Virtual reality is the ideal way for training staff to learn how to cope with such situations without any real consequences.

"In the future, we will see patients in severe condition more often, and health care providers should be able to empathize by jointly making decisions in stressful situations," said Cyrus Ho, a specialist involved in the study. "Using a mixed learning approach, we hope to provide a more holistic experience to help future generations of HCWs learn nerve state management skills while practicing empathy and compassion."

The system includes elements of a busy ward to mimic the problems of a clinical setting, including outsiders, a noisy TV, requests from family members and nursing staff. The system also touches on ethical issues, such as how to deal with a patient who wants to be discharged against a doctor's recommendations, and questions of covert administration of drugs to patients.

"In the process of dealing with a patient who is increasingly aggressive and disoriented, students will have to de-escalate the situation by removing items that can further excite the patient, finding the right words for patients, and making decisions such as properly dosing medications and choosing the right moment to administer treatment and physical containment," Ho says.

https://www.medgadget.com/2022/06/virtual-reality-to-train-staff-to-deal-with-agitated-patients.html