Virtual Reality-based Training for Safe Medication Administration Among Nursing Students: a Randomized Wait-list Crossover Trial
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 60
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Confidence in medication administration
Study Overview
Brief Summary
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 Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Crossover
- Primary Purpose
- Health Services Research
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Enrolled as a third- or fourth-year undergraduate nursing student during the study period
- •Aged 18 years or older
Exclusion Criteria
- •Health condition contraindicating virtual reality use
- •On academic leave during the study period
- •Unable to attend the scheduled study sessions
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Confidence in medication administration
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).
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.
Secondary Outcomes
- Self-reported safe medication practice(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).)
- System usability(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(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).)
Investigators
Thi Phuong Lan Nguyen
Senior lecturer, School of Nursing and Medical Technology
University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City