Virtual reality is helping these nursing students prepare for the real world - ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix

PORTLAND, Maine — College classes are typically beauteous talkative environments, particularly for Emily Kelsey and the remainder of her classmates who are successful their 3rd twelvemonth of nursing schoolhouse astatine the University of New England successful Portland, Maine. But the aboriginal of wellness attraction grooming successful this state is silent.

Inside a schoolroom here, these students are hard astatine work, afloat immersed successful hands-on, virtual world training. Ten students are scattered astir the country each with their ain virtual world headsets on.

While this schoolroom is mostly silent, if you perceive closely, you tin perceive that's not wholly the case. Beneath the goggles, Kelsey and her classmates are wrong a virtual world infirmary country sitting with a diligent who is having occupation breathing.

"I conscionable consciousness truthful anxious today," the virtual world diligent said during the simulation.

Unlike old-school mannequins though, these patients tin talk. They tally done what's incorrect and springiness nurses a database of medications they're on.

"I'm sorry. I can't retrieve everything I instrumentality each morning," the diligent successful the simulation added.

Students tin instrumentality their somesthesia and adjacent spot their hands connected the diligent earlier making a diagnosis.

At the extremity of each class, teacher Ashley Sculac leads a debriefing.

"They’re focused the captious reasoning and reasoning. They’re genuinely immersed successful the environment," Sculac explained.

UNE is 1 of the lone colleges successful the state utilizing the Oxford Medical Simulation virtual world program.

Assistant Nursing Professor Gina Kemper doesn't spot virtual world arsenic replacing real-life objective training. However, she's seen the interaction this each has had connected her students.

"I deliberation it truly gives them a caput commencement successful taking attraction of existent patients," Kemper noted.

As for students similar Emily Kelsey, they accidental it's helping them make problem-solving skills portion face-to-face with patients.

"It feels real, you person to marque decisions similar however you would successful existent life," Kelsey said.