Virtual and Augmented Realities in Nursing Education: State of the Science

The use of simulation in nursing education is an integrated part of the curriculum and has demonstrated the benefit for learning in nursing students at all levels. The next stage in simulation-based learning will utilize the wide variety of new technologies that are currently available, including virtual and augmented reality. The use of these new technologies brings with it a need for standard definitions, evaluation of its impact on learning, and new opportunities for research. Efforts are underway to standardized definitions and publish early findings on research using these new technologies. There are many opportunities available for nursing educators to create a new era of simulation-based learning methodologies by incorporating virtual and augmented realities in their curriculum. The state of the science is showing promising outcomes and commercial products are maturing.

The utilization of these new technologies should be approached in the same way as other learning methodologies as many new ideas and ways of learning are emerging in this area. It will be critical for nursing educators and faculty to determine the optimal ways to utilize them.