We sat down and asked Educator Jessica Reed from Indianapolis, Indiana a few questions and this is what she had to say.
Q: Jessica, tell us what kind of experiences your learners have been having when using PeriopSim.
A: They use PeriopSim very easily. We have the icon already on the tablets, they just log right in and they didn't have any issues accessing anything. The system is pretty intuitive for them to navigate through everything. I do ask them "how was that? Did you find it helpful?" They tell me it is really helpful. I even have my Cardio Vascular (CV) nurses do the basic procedures, like the Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and Inguinal Hernia Repair just to get the feel for you know, blade comes first, then cautery, etc. The CV Nurses explained it was valuable for them so that they can better understand the basic flow. For example if I pass a suture, then I need to pass a forcep and then scissors. The feedback we've gotten has been overwhelmingly positive saying things like "yes I like this", "I like to learn this way", and "I like the immediate feedback the system provides".
Q: What would you say are the advantages of learning with PeriopSim VR?
I think PeriopSim VR is great, because part of what we have to teach people is not necessarily just new knowledge and skills, but it's how to move your body while you're standing at the field. I really feel like PeriopSim VR captures that movement aspect because you have to turn and reach and grab, and come back to the field with it. It really gets them more of that body awareness, when they're learning how to be sterile in the environment, especially for the nurses, because that's a new skill for them. PeriopSim VR brings body movement and spatial recognition into the learning and it's fun.
Anybody who puts on that headset is having a blast while they're in there. It's okay to make a mistake. They get that immediate feedback of "No, that's not correct" without it feeling really punitive. That's what I really like about the program.
From an administrator perspective, I love the new dashboard with the reports and how it's showing me the preceptor time saved and the grading of the A/B/C/D/Incomplete assessment and where my learners are at with competency as they go through those simulations. I think that's a vast improvement. The report that really breaks it down into as they go through the procedures or the instrument sets and tells them like which instruments do they keep missing, or which ones are slower to grab. PeriopSim really lets me direct my teaching to say, "Okay, this is a gap, we need to really address this".