Development of a virtual reality program in South Korea for the measurement of vital signs in children: a methodological study

PURPOSE: We developed a virtual reality (VR) program for use in pediatric nursing practicums to help nursing students learn to measure vital signs in children. METHODS: The analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation model was employed between July 2021 and December 2021 at a university in South Korea. In the analysis phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with four nursing students, two nursing school graduates, and four experts. The topic and contents of the VR program were settled in the design phase. The VR program was developed and subsequently used and evaluated by 20 nursing students and four experts. RESULTS: The contents of the VR program for pediatric nursing practicums included the measurement of vital signs in a newborn baby and a young child, as well as an evaluation system. The mean score for the nursing students' satisfaction with practice was 4.02 out of 5 points. The mean scores for overall satisfaction with the VR program were 4.15 and 4.79 out of 5 points for nursing students and experts, respectively. CONCLUSION: The VR program developed in this study allows nursing students to practice measuring vital signs in children, thus improving the students' clinical performance in pediatric nursing.