Increasing awareness, sensitivity, and empathy for Alzheimer's dementia patients using simulation.

Background: Alzheimer's Disease (AD), a type of dementia that interferes with memory, thinking, and behavior is the most common type of dementia. As a result, it is a leading contributor to death and disability for those over the age of 65. Therefore, future nurses must have the knowledge and skills to manage patients with AD in any setting spanning the healthcare continuum.

Objective: The goal of this project was to evaluate perceptions of awareness, knowledge and sensitivity of future nurses concerning AD patients before and after participation in a simulated virtual reality dementia experience.

Design/participants: A quasi-experimental repeated measure pre-post design was used with a convenience sample of 163 undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students from three different courses at large public university in the Midwest.

Methods: Students were placed in teams of four to participate in a 45-minute interactive simulated virtual reality dementia experience. Each session started with a 15-minute team pre-briefing session, followed by a 10-minute individual simulation, which was then followed by a 30-minute team debriefing session facilitated by faculty using the Plus/ Delta debriefing technique. The Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS), The Knowledge About Memory Loss and Care Test (KAML-C), and the Healthcare Tour Survey were administered pre/post participation. Qualitative data was also collected from student reflections.

Results: Statistically significant changes (p < 0.001) were noted in the pre/post DAS survey and the Healthcare Tour Survey. No significant change was noted on the KAML-C, although there was a trend towards improvement. No differences were noted between courses on any of the surveys.

Conclusion: Using a virtual reality dementia experience proved to be a valuable strategy to increase student perceptions of awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity of AD. Further exploration is warranted to establish how these may be further facilitated to translate into improved care for those with AD.