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When Tiffani Chidume has a computer problem in Auburn University’s nursing simulation lab, she doesn’t need to call for help; she can usually figure it out herself. 

“I’ve always been a techie person,” she said. “I love getting into the mannequins and understanding the pieces and how they work, and I also have a degree in nursing informatics, which is all the computer stuff and data related to nursing. I really don’t call tech support unless I need an admin password; I don’t want to bother them.”  

Chidume, an associate clinical professor in Auburn’s College of Nursing, is one of just a few people in the world who holds certifications in both advanced simulation health care education and health care simulation operations. 

She puts her background to good use teaching in the college’s Engaging Active Group Learning Environments in Simulation (EAGLES) Center. The center consists of a 10,000-square-foot simulation suite that mimics hospital, clinic and community settings and two massive skills labs that house hospital beds, instructional space and the latest technology.  

In 2024, Chidume was awarded a research fellowship from the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning to further study the use of simulation in nursing education, and her most recent foray into cutting-edge simulation technology is virtual reality (VR). 

The value of VR 

Auburn nursing students are required to complete a hefty number of clinical hours, but having only one hospital in town means they often must carpool to medical facilities an hour or two away.  Due to the nationwide nursing shortage, Chidume estimates that 80-90% of nursing programs are having difficulty finding enough clinical hours in their communities for students. 

However, the EAGLES Center is considered a clinical site, so Auburn students are able to complete some clinical hours without ever leaving campus. Chidume’s research has shown that health care simulation is equivalent to real-life clinical experience.  

“We did a survey that measured how students feel about their experiences with traditional clinicals in the hospital, simulated experiences and the VR experience, and based on the data, students found no difference across the three domains, which is significant,” she said. “So, not only can we use simulation to earn clinical hours, but VR is also just as valuable.” 

While most higher education institutions are having clinical placement issues, very few have dedicated as many resources to integrating VR as Auburn. As a clinical experience, VR nursing simulations help students develop skills in communication and teamwork in a safe environment, while reducing clinical errors and improving patient safety.  

"In our clinicals, we take a step back in those situations, so to actually be doing it ourselves and learning to communicate with everyone in the room was very different and really helpful. That was the coolest thing I've ever done in my life."

— College of Nursing student Caroline Clements

How it started 

Chidume calls Leora Wright, simulation operations specialist at the EAGLES Center, “a gamer at heart,” and credits her for introducing the nursing faculty to VR. When Wright brought her VR headset to work for the clinical faculty to try, Chidume was so disoriented she immediately dismissed the idea of using it with students.  

However, through her research and connections in the nursing simulation community, she began to realize that VR was a growing trend, so she decided to give it another try. Through the process of trying out various platforms, she discovered that health care VR is very different from the typical VR games because the immersive environment is developed to be stable, realistic and much less disorienting than a game. 

When she heard that Auburn’s Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning was awarding AUX grants for faculty wanting to implement innovative technology, Chidume and other members of the simulation team applied and were one of the program’s first recipients.  

That was back in 2021, and grant funds were used to buy VR equipment, software and a year of licenses. Four years later, the college owns 10 headsets and has access to one of the largest health care VR platforms. VR is now a regular part of students’ clinical experience at AUCON.  

Initially, the programs walked students through a patient’s mental health crisis, something they may not always witness in a clinical setting. But recently, Chidume added a second simulation where students must assess a patient with chest pain in an emergency room setting.  

She is currently conducting research on the students’ experiences, studying the differences in learning outcomes for the two simulations and whether students prefer to have an instructor “in the room” with them or work on their own. 

“I’ve seen nothing in the current literature about facilitators being embedded with the students, so I want to explore that,” she said. “We got surveys back last year, and the students loved the entire experience. They could see the value in it, and since we’re placing it at the end of the semester, they could take what they’ve learned and pull it all together.” 

Exceptional student experience 

While most students love it, there have been a few who experience motion or “cyber” sickness. Chidume offers them the option to interact with other students in a screen-based experience instead so they can assess options for patient care without actually wearing the headset. 

But most students prefer the actual VR experience and equate it to working in a real clinical setting. 

“It's like it's a normal hospital,” said student Mary Wroble. “It was kind of blurry at first, and it took me a second to get adjusted and get used to using the clicker to grab everything, but after a while, I got it, and it’s so realistic.” 

Her classmate, Caroline Clements, agreed and said the experience of dealing with a cardiac event was especially helpful. 

“I feel like in our clinicals, we take a step back in those situations, so to actually be doing it ourselves and learning to communicate with everyone in the room was very different and really helpful,” Clements said. “That was the coolest thing I've ever done in my life.”