Effects of Digital Learning and Virtual Reality in Port-A Catheter Training Course for Oncology Nurses: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

In-service education for oncology nurses usually adopts didactic teaching. This study investigated the effects of virtual reality (VR) and a digital learning-based Port-A-catheter educational course for oncology nurses. A mixed-methods research design was employed, with a convenience sample of 43 nurses from a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan participating. Measurements were taken at three time points: pre-test, 1st post-test, and 2nd post-test. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated ANOVA tests. Results showed significant improvement in Port-A-catheter knowledge and skill levels (p < 0.0001) and high learning attitude and satisfaction scores of 4.29 ± 0.46 and 4.31 ± 0.58 points, respectively. Five qualitative themes emerged, highlighting the realistic VR scenarios, VR practice’s usefulness, willingness to learn with VR, VR system limitations, and the potential for future courses. The study concluded that a VR-based educational course effectively enhanced nurses’ knowledge, skills, learning attitude, and satisfaction, recommending the inclusion of diverse clinical scenarios for practical learning.

Effect of the case-based learning method combined with virtual reality simulation technology on midwifery laboratory courses: A quasi-experimental study

“…Our study indicated that CBL- method effectively enhanced students’ individual and team operation abilities, which have also been supported by previous studies [ 7 , 8 , 33 ]. Shih et al.…”

“…Shih et al. reported a VR training portal-A catheter course for oncology nurses [ 8 ]. VR teaching significantly improved nurses’ port-A catheter curved needle injection skills.…”

“…Traditional midwifery education contributes greatly to the cultivation of midwifery talent, but it still has disadvantages, such as insufficient cultivation of thinking ability [ 4 ], which is vital for the career development of midwifery students [ 5 , 6 ]. Virtual reality (VR) simulations, serving as an informational platform, are widely applied in nursing education and accelerate students’ clinical capacity development [ 7 , 8 ]. Midwifery is a practice-oriented course; therefore, we introduce VR simulation and Case-based Learning (CBL) method into the midwifery laboratory course to enhance the comprehensive midwifery capabilities of midwifery students.…”

“…Although VR simulation has already been used in many successful applications in nursing education [ 8 , 26 , 27 ], research on VR simulation-assisted midwifery courses is limited. Therefore, we integrated real midwifery cases into VR simulation to enhance students’ comprehensive midwifery capability.…”