Challenge: Creating patient safe nurse education
The Moodle Certified Integration Near-Life was developed so that anyone can effectively share knowledge, by creating their own interactive videos and virtual simulations. Near-Life lets anyone create immersive experiences by making your videos interactive and integrates seamlessly with Moodle. Their platform was designed with engagement and knowledge retention as a core focus, ensuring learning content is memorable.
In healthcare, much of a learner’s education comes from patient interaction and learning from experience in addition to factual knowledge. The challenge is that when students face complex scenarios requiring real-time problem solving, there is a higher risk of errors that could hurt the patient. This has meant that institutions have to be careful to balance textbook and experiential learning to protect the safety of patients.
Near-Life is on a mission to change this. With its healthcare simulations educators can create a virtual patient interaction with interactive video and virtual simulations, without putting patients at risk. Now, nursing students have the opportunity to participate in scenario-based learning simulations from anywhere, without the need to choose between textbook and experiential learning, but can safely do both.
Solution: Virtual learning simulations
A key example of the work Near-Life is doing to provide safe experiential learning is the digital nursing simulations created by the University of Bolton (UoB). The University uses Moodle alongside the Near-Life simulations as part of the holistic care placement experience for first year nursing students.
The University of Bolton used the Near-Life authoring tool to make a series of immersive virtual learning experiences. The nursing students have sole autonomy over the choices presented and determine how the scenario unfolds. Topics covered by the digital nursing simulations include A to E assessment, Medicine management, Activities of daily living, and Discharge planning. The simulations help the students learn by testing their decision-making, enabling them to see the outcome of their choices in a safe setting.
Using Near-Life, the University of Bolton created multiple simulations with a straightforward design that can be played repeatedly and shared. This is time and cost effective for the university and also enhances the learning experience. Research from a Near-Life case study has shown that interactive videos are more engaging than traditional videos and are watched for 44% longer and are 32% more memorable. The virtual learning can also be tracked, giving the University a more in depth understanding of student decision-making and allowing them to identify areas for improvement.
Results: An immersive learning experience
After completing each interactive scenario, a face-to-face debrief takes place with University of Bolton lecturers. These sessions facilitate discussion of the choices the learners made and why. This also provides a great platform for peer-to-peer learning. Since implementing the digital nursing simulations, many discussions have taken place regarding the different parts of the simulations and the initial feedback from students on the learning experience has been very positive.
Matt Smith from the University of Bolton stated that: “Nursing is a practical based profession and the interactive digital simulations allow students to immerse themselves within the scenarios and learn by doing. This interactive video approach has allowed us to expand our capacity in terms of offering experiential learning to students. The response has been very positive and we’re keen to further expand our focus on interactive and immersive learning using Near-Life’s platform.”
Learn more about Near-Life and see their website.
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