A Pilot Experience Across PeDXR Partner Universities
With great excitement, we share that PeDXR has achieved a key milestone by successfully piloting the PeDXR Extended Reality Application – PeDXR ERA.
PeDXR ERA an Extended Reality (XR) application designed specifically for nursing students aiming at enhancing pediatric nursing care knowledge and skills, as well as facilitating digital transformation in vocational education, and serving labour market needs has been put to the test demonstrating the power and value of XR tools in education.
In the recent months educators across PeDXR partner universities put PeDXR ERA to practice, involving students with diverse academic levels and varying levels of familiarity with XR technologies.
Despite differences in prior exposure to XR tools and stage of study, students quickly adapted to the PeDXR ERA immersive environment, highlighting the accessibility and intuitive design of the application.
Bringing Real-Life Pediatric Care into a Virtual Environment
Each participating student had the opportunity to practice in at least one scenario in their native language or in English. Depending on the scenario, students were required to apply communication skills or procedural knowledge or both reinforcing a holistic approach to pediatric care.
To support students in piloting PeDXR ERA, students with higher technical skills demonstrated how to navigate and complete scenarios, as well as provided technical support during the piloting.
Participating students’ testimonies confirmed PeDXR ERA’s achievement in simulating real-life pediatric nursing cases and challenges, through its pediatric care scenarios, which included:
- Triage – Neurological Assessment (one scenario for baby and another for a child)
- Placing a Peripheral IV Catheter
- Glucose Testing
- Family-Center Care – Child Nursing History
- Urgent Appendectomy for Acute Appendicitis
- Pain Management – Infant Venipuncture
- Medicine Preparation
- Nasal Suction Education for Parents
- Bronchiolitis Management
Measuring Impact: Skills and Knowledge Before and After
To evaluate the effectiveness of the PeDXR ERA, students underwent structured assessments (questionnaires) both before and after the piloting phase. These evaluations focused on two key areas:
- Technical and practical skills within XR environments
- Theoretical and Clinical knowledge related to the scenarios
Prior to piloting and after the completion of the initial questionnaires evaluating students’ theoretical and clinical knowledge in the scenario topics, students had a theory lecture in the scenarios they would pilot. A step helpful for enriching and refreshing their theoretical and clinical knowledge and supporting the piloting. Furthermore, additional supportive learning materials such as videos, research articles and other lecturers were provided to the students following the piloting to further support and enhance their learnings.
In the upcoming months these results will be examined to provide more comprehensive conclusions on the effectiveness of the PeDXR ERA. Nonetheless, through the eyes of the observing educators, and feedback collected in the debriefing sessions that followed the piloting, students reported feeling confident in navigating PeDXR ERA and completing clinical simulations within it. Their demonstration of enhanced understanding of pediatric nursing procedures in PeDXR ERA scenarios left educators feeling optimistic on the upcoming evaluation results of PeDXR ERA and its capacity to reinforce knowledge and enhance clinical skills.
Student and Educator Experience: Engagement, Excitement, and Gratitude
One of the most striking outcomes of the pilot was the overwhelmingly positive response from students and educators. Participants expressed strong enthusiasm and appreciation for the experience and highlighted that although learning with the support of PeDXR ERA cannot replace real life practice opportunities, PeDXR ERA stood out for being:
- “Engaging and realistic”
- “A safe space to make mistakes and learn”
- “A tool that helps reinforce knowledge”
- “A provider of opportunity for experiential learning”
- “A tool for increasing students’ readiness to face similar scenarios in real life”
- “A tool for bridging the gap between theory and practice”
Looking Ahead
The success of this pilot marks an important event in PeDXR timeline, and the enthusiasm demonstrated by students during this pilot serve as a strong motivation for the future use of PeDXR ERA in healthcare education.
