Team Name
Medisim
Timeline
Fall 2021 – Spring 2022
Students
- Jasmine Hyder
- Matthew Irvine
- Arwa Jafferji
- Alexis Lueckenhoff
- Lucas Streanga
Sponsor
RaeAnna Jeffers (Fall), Health Sciences Librarian
Jennifer Roye (Spring), Assistant Dean of Simulation and Technology
UTA Computer Science Department
UTA Nursing Department
Abstract
Nursing students at the University of Texas at Arlington require a tool that will
give them greater exposure to hospice/palliative care experiences. To create this
tool, several computer science and engineering students have worked to design various VR simulations in which you care for a patient at different stages during
palliative care. Currently, these simulations are disjointed in how they feel and
operate. Combining these simulations into one cohesive program will increase
their effectiveness for both students and instructors.
Background
The sponsor and customer for this project is the Department of Nursing at the
University of Texas at Arlington. The points of contact for the department are
RaeAnna Jeffers and Jennifer Roye along with Dr. Shawn Gieser who is acting
as a foreman for the project. One area that the Department of Nursing is lacking
is hands on experience for nursing students working with hospice patients. This
is an area of nursing that is challenging to work in, and by having experience
prior to graduating, nursing students will be much more prepared for their
careers. Gaining experience will not only help the nurses manage hospice care
in a more positive manner, but it will also make them more effective for easing
the patient to their end. It can be very difficult to witness an individual on
their deathbed, and so by training in a realistic environment, the nurse will
be better prepared for managing the emotions and outcomes involved. A VR
simulation will allow nurses to gain valuable experience working with hospice
patients. The simulation will expose students to elderly individuals and how to
manage their environment. It will also enable students to witness issues that
could potentially come up in a real situation in an immersive training session.
Since the simulation will be three-dimensional, it will provide a more realistic
training for students than any current 2-dimensional implementations.
Project Requirements
- Main Menu
- Clocks
- Scenario 3
- Scenario 4
- Glasgow Coma Scale
- Patient Identification
- Administering Medication
- Hygiene
- Post-mortem Care
- Focused Assessment of Patient
System Overview
The system overview of our project consists of two high level layers. These layers include the user
interface layer as well as the software layer. The user interface layer is made up of the systems which
enable the user to input data to affect the virtual reality environment and receive feedback on what those
effects are. The VR simulation software layer handles what occurs in the virtual reality environment,
including how user input affects it, and processes how it should be updated. It then sends the updated
environment back to the user through the PC.
Results
After working on this project for 2 semesters our team managed to implement many immersive activities such as:
- taking the patients temperature,
- giving the patient medicine via a syringe,
- using the glasgow coma scale to see if the patient is deteriorating,
- prepping the patient’s body in post-mortem care,
- talking with a family member about their next steps after the patient has died.
We have completed most of scenario 3 (only needing bug fixes and polishing left) while scenario 4 has the groundwork done, but needs more time to fully flesh it out.
Future Work
Fix remaining bugs from all scenes
Finish all remaining requirements.
Test software in conjunction with the sponsor
Package software for deployment
Project Files
Project Charter (link)
System Requirements Specification (link)
Architectural Design Specification (link)
Detailed Design Specification (link)
Poster (link)
References
[1] J. M. Padilha, P. Puga Machado, A. Ribeiro, J. Ramos, and P. Costa, “Clin-
ical virtual simulation in nursing education: Randomized controlled trial,”
Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 21, no. 3, 2019.
[2] R. McCloy and R. Stone, “Virtual reality in surgery,” Journal of Medical
Internet Research, vol. 323, no. 7318, pp. 912–915, 2001.
[3] P. C. Smith and B. K. Hamilton, “The effects of virtual reality simulation
as a teaching strategy for skills preparation in nursing students,” Clinical
Simulation in Nursing, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 52–58, 2015, sI: Works of Doctoral
Students and Recent Graduates.
[4] C. L. Foronda, S. M. Swoboda, K. W. Hudson, E. Jones, N. Sullivan,
J. Ockimey, and P. R. Jeffries, “Evaluation of vsim for nursing: A trial of
innovation,” Clinical Simulation in Nursing, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 128–131,
2016, special Issue: Gaming.
[5] F.-Q. Chen, Y.-F. Leng, J.-F. Ge, D.-W. Wang, C. Li, B. Chen, and Z.-L.
Sun, “Effectiveness of virtual reality in nursing education: Meta-analysis,”
J Med Internet Res, vol. 22, no. 9, p. e18290, Sep 2020.
