Virtual Reality-based Training for Safe Medication Administration Among Nursing Students

University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City60 enrolled

Overview

This study evaluated a virtual reality-based training programme designed to support safe medication administration among undergraduate nursing students. Medication administration is a core nursing competency, but students often have limited opportunities to practise medication safety scenarios repeatedly before entering clinical settings. Virtual reality provides an immersive and repeatable simulated environment for practising routine, high-alert, and semi-emergency medication administration scenarios without risk to patients. Third- and fourth-year undergraduate nursing students at a healthcare university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, were randomly allocated to two groups. Group A received the VR training first, while Group B served as a wait-list comparison group and received the same training later, after crossover. The intervention consisted of three 90-minute sessions, each including pre-briefing, immersive VR simulation, and PEARLS-informed debriefing. Outcomes included confidence in medication administration, self-reported safe medication practice, system usability, and cybersickness symptoms.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Patient Safety Medication Errors

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Confidence in medication administration

Confidence in medication administration was measured using a 6-item self-report scale. Each item was rated from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (extremely confident). Total scores range from 6 to 30, with higher scores indicating greater confidence.

Time frame: Baseline (before any training); approximately 5 weeks after baseline (about 1 week after Group A completed VR training, while Group B remained on the wait-list); approximately 3 months after baseline (about 1 week after Group B completed VR training).

Secondary Outcomes

Self-reported safe medication practice

Self-reported safe medication practice was assessed using the 28-item Patient Safety Assessment in Medication Administration. Each item was rated from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Total scores range from 28 to 140, with higher scores indicating more frequent adherence to safe medication administration practices.

System usability

Usability of the VR system was assessed using the 10-item System Usability Scale. Scores were converted to a 0 to 100 scale, with higher scores indicating better perceived usability.

Time frame: Approximately 1 week after each group completed VR training (approximately 5 weeks after baseline for Group A and approximately 3 months after baseline for Group B).

Cybersickness symptoms

Cybersickness was assessed using the 16-item Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Items were rated from 0 (none) to 3 (severe), and nausea, oculomotor, disorientation, and total scores were calculated using the standard scoring method.