Medication Administration & Clinical Judgment: Immersive Virtual Reality versus High Fidelity Simulation
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Nursing students need medication administration education and practice to safely give medications while avoiding errors in the clinical setting. High-fidelity simulation (HFS) is used in healthcare education to enhance student knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, confidence, clinical judgment, motivation, and competence (Craig et al., 2020; Hanshaw & Dickerson, 2020; O’Rourke et al., 2021; Pol-Castaneda et al., 2022; Toqan et al., 2023). HFS has also been found to improve medication administration and clinical judgment (Craig et al., 2020). Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) is engaging, realistic, and enhances visualization and skill acquisition in a safe environment (Gasteiger et al., 2022; Pol-Castaneda et al., 2022; Toqan et al., 2023). Students report increased confidence in clinical judgment and care delivery when IVR is integrated into didactic courses and IVR has demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing problem-solving and critical care competencies (Armstrong et al., 2025; Dong et al., 2025). There are limited studies evaluating IVR in comparison to traditional HFS for medication administration competency and clinical judgment. This research pilot study compared first semester nursing student medication administration and clinical judgment competency after either participating in high-fidelity simulation (HFS) or Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) evaluated with summative simulation. Students also shared their experiences of HFS or IVR in a qualitative survey.
