Nurses training: VR tool tested for digital competency development, combined with analysis of observations collected from hospitals during ethnographic study.
In the Digi-Care project ‹Digitalisation and transmission of clinical information in nursing: Implications and perspectives‹, which was a part of national research programme 77 “Digital Transformation”, the SFUVET and the Institute for Medical Informatics at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) developed a virtual reality (VR) prototype and text-based learning situations that could be used for the initial and continuous training of nurses, and suggestions for optimized workflows in digital systems. The prototypes and learning situations were based on an ethnographic study in hospitals, in which nurses were accompanied and filmed during their daily work. The participating nurses were then invited to comment on video footage (showed to them) to get ahold of the nurses’ own perception of their performed activities.
The main objective of the BeLEARN project 2024 ‹Digitalisation in healthcare› was to conduct an in-depth analysis of the extensive data gathered by the Digi-Care project. Key moments in the digital transmission and documentation of information in hospitals were identified, along with the digital competencies required by nursing staff to perform these tasks. A second objective was to obtain feedback on the VR prototype – an immersive and interactive 360-degree video on shift handover – which is intended to provide training on digital competencies that are so important today.
The ‘course-of-action’ approach to work analysis was used for the in-depth analysis of the ethnographic data (video recordings of job shadowing and self-confrontation interviews) collected as part of the Digi-Care project (Theureau, 2003, 2006).
The project ‹Digitalisation in healthcare› is completed. Results of this project can be seen in Digitalisation and transmission of clinical information in nursing: implications and perspectives (Digi-Care).
The new BeLEARN project 2025 ‘Virtual reality in Nursing and Medical Informatics Education’ implements the VR prototype in two different fields, nursing and medical informatics. It examines existing obstacles and requirements for implementing immersive VR tools in tertiary education and evaluates the effectiveness of the VR-based teaching units.
Scientific publications prepared during the project (further publications are available on the Digi-Care website):
Salzmann, Patrizia et al. (2024). Digi-care: situierte, innovative und immersive Lernmaterialien für die Pflege. In N. Albergati, L. Dorsa, M. Garbani-Nerini, F. Merlini & D. Salini (Hrsg.), Entwicklung und Herausforderungen in der Pflegepraxis (Evoluzione e sfide delle pratiche infermieristiche), (Band 3, S. 66-73). Eidgenössische Hochschule für Berufsbildung EHB. https://zenodo.org/records/13366105
Bürkle, Thomas et al. (2024). Digi-Care: Die Perspektive der Medizininformatik. In N. Albergati, L. Dorsa, M. Garbani-Nerini, F. Merlini, & D. Salini (Hrsg.), Entwicklung und Herausforderungen in der Pflegepraxis (Evoluzione e sfide delle pratiche infermieristiche), (Band 3, S. 45-51). Eidgenössische Hochschule für Berufsbildung EHB. https://zenodo.org/records/12664183
Volpe, Andrea Carla et al. (submitted). Digital Competences of Nursing Staff for Patient Care Information Transmission: A Multisituated Work Analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies.
Practice-oriented publications:
Volpe, Andrea Carla et al. (2024). Digitale Kompetenzen werden auch in der Pflege immer wichtiger, Lerninstrumente für die Aus- und Weiterbildung von Pflegefachpersonen. Transfer. Berufsbildung in Forschung und Praxis, 9(9). https://transfer.vet/digitale-kompetenzen-werden-auch-in-der-pflege-immer-wichtiger/ (Publication also available in French and Italian)
Salzmann, Patrizia et al. (2024). Mit Virtual Reality in den Lernort Spital eintauchen. Aus- und Weiterbildung von Pflegefachpersonen. Skilled, 1, 13. https://www.ehb.swiss/sites/default/files/2024-05/Skilled%202024-1-13%20-%20DE%20%28Salzmann%2C%20L%C3%B6ffel%2C%20Volpe%29.pdf (Publication also available in French and Italian)
Further publications and presentations can be seen in Digitalisation and transmission of clinical information in nursing: implications and perspectives (Digi-Care)
