A Comparison of Virtual Reality and Traditional Audio-Recorded Hearing Voices Simulations: Their Impact on Empathy in Health Care Students

Nurs Educ Perspect. 2024 Apr 30. doi: 10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001271. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTEmpathy is essential to the development of communication skills. Simulating psychosis to develop empathy for mental health patients is complex; we hypothesized that virtual reality (VR) would be effective in increasing empathy in health care students. This experimental study compared the effectiveness of a VR simulation with a traditional hearing voices simulation as measured by the Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale-Revised. Twenty-five health care students were randomized into two groups. The results indicated that both simulated experiences increased empathy levels, supporting the study's hypothesis. A 10-minute VR simulation is an effective teaching strategy for developing empathy in health care students.PMID:38682864 | DOI:10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001271
Source: Nursing Education Perspectives - Category: Nursing Authors: Source Type: research