Facilitators' experiences with virtual simulation and their impact on learning.

Background: Increasingly, virtual simulations are being integrated into higher education. A successful experience goes far beyond simply offering learners access to a virtual simulation; it requires a facilitator who understands the learners' needs and course objectives, choses the right virtual simulation for the learner, creates a welcoming space that promotes learning, and evaluates the experience.

Methods: Facilitators from three different healthcare programs and six educational institutions and students from two different healthcare programs were included in this exploratory qualitative research study.

Virtual simulation in healthcare education: a multi-professional, pan-Canadian evaluation.

Background: As we experience a shortage of healthcare providers in Canada, it has become increasingly challenging for healthcare educators to secure quality clinical placements. We evaluated the impact of virtual simulations created for the virtual work-integrated learning (Virtu-WIL) program, a pan-Canadian project designed to develop, test, and offer virtual simulations to enrich healthcare clinical education in Canada. Evaluation was important since the virtual simulations are freely available through creative commons licensing, to the global healthcare community.

An educator's toolkit for virtual simulation: A usability study.

Background: The rapid change brought on by COVID-19 meant that many educators adopted virtual simulation quickly, often without having a strong background in the pedagogical principles of virtual simulation. To address this resource gap, a team of 21 Ontario virtual simulation-experienced educators created the freely available, online, interprofessional Virtual Simulation Educator's Toolkit. The Toolkit provides the theory, practical strategies and resources needed to teach effectively with virtual simulation.

User Engagement Using an Etextbook: A Descriptive Study.

Engagement is an integral pedagogical component underpinning effective educational activities and is of importance for educators using online platforms. Carefully designed, technology-enabled learning resources can increase student engagement. We developed an open educational resource etextbook on vital sign measurement using an interactive and multimodal platform to facilitate student learning.

Curricular uptake of virtual gaming simulation in nursing education.

In nursing education, virtual simulations are used to augment in-person simulation and prepare and supplement students for clinical placements. More recently, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual simulations are being used to replace clinical hours. Many virtual simulations require the user to make decisions that affect the outcome of the simulated experience.

Using Virtual Interactive Digital Simulator to Enhance Simulation Experiences for Undergraduate Nursing Students.

It is increasingly difficult to find quality clinical placements that allow nursing students to work with high acuity patients. To address this need, simulation is recommended; however, human patient simulation is costly from a human and resource perspective. In a search for alternatives, we offered a simulation experience using a virtual interactive digital simulator and evaluated student outcomes.

Using Think Aloud in Health Assessment: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Health assessment courses are foundational to prepare students in nursing baccalaureate programs for clinical practice. Nurse educators are interested in testing strategies to improve students' ability to perform physical assessment techniques.

Method: A mixed-methods design was used to examine nursing students' experiences with the Think Aloud (TA) approach and its affect on their ability and perceived self-efficacy when performing physical assessment skills.

Virtual gaming simulation of a mental health assessment: A usability study.

Providing safe and realistic virtual simulations could be an effective way to facilitate the transition from the classroom to clinical practice. As nursing programs begin to include virtual simulations as a learning strategy; it is critical to first assess the technology for ease of use and usefulness. A virtual gaming simulation was developed, and a usability study was conducted to assess its ease of use and usefulness for students and faculty.

Virtual Gaming Simulation in Nursing Education: A Focus Group Study.

Background: The use of serious gaming in a virtual world is a novel pedagogical approach in nursing education. A virtual gaming simulation was implemented in a health assessment class that focused on mental health and interpersonal violence. The study's purpose was to explore students' experiences of the virtual gaming simulation.

Virtual gaming to develop students' pediatric nursing skills: A usability test.

Background: As competition for specialty clinical placements increases, there is an urgent need to create safe, stimulating, alternative learning environments for students.

Objective: To address that clinical gap, our team developed a virtual game-based simulation to help nursing students develop their pediatric nursing skills.

Design: A usability study was conducted using the Technology Acceptance Model as a research framework.