Team Name
VR Nursing
Timeline
Summer 2022 – Fall 2022
Students
- Mustafa Aboul-Jibin
- Kenneth Garza
- Mahdy Joudeh
- Bevan Philip
Sponsor
Jennifer Roye, Assistant Dean of SMART Hospital & Simulation
Dr. Shawn Gieser, Professor (Senior Design)
UTA Nursing Department
UTA Computer Science 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. Finalizing all 4 scenarios and fixing other bugs found before testing will ensure a fine experience for both students and instructors once the app is deployed.
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
The highest priority requirements are split among two categories: Simulation Content Requirements and Scenario Content Requirements. Simulation Content Requirements take priority over Scenario Content Requirements since Scenario Content Requirements must exist within each scenario described in the Simulation Content Requirements.
Simulation Content Requirements
- Scenario 1 – The nurse encounters Mr. Russell in the hospital. The nurse will be required to ensure patient safety, perform an assessment and obtain a nursing diagnosis, and administer medication to the patient.
- Scenario 2 – The nurse first enters Mr. Russell’s house for hospice care following his terminal cancer diagnosis. The nurse will assess the safety of the environment and perform an assessment of the patient. Finally, the nurse will communicate Mr. Russell’s condition to his wife.
- Scenario 3 – Mr. Russell is exhibiting symptoms of impending death. The nurse will identify the change in status, perform a GCS, assess pain, perform suction, and communicate the patient’s status to his wife.
- Scenario 4 – Mr. Russell has passed on. The nurse will perform comfort measures for the patient and his family, and conduct postmortem care.
Scenario Content Requirements
5. Glasgow Coma Scale Reporting (GCS) – Must be able to check patient eye movements, verbal responses, and motor responses.
6. Administering Medication – Must be able to choose between dosage options, verify the compatibility of the medication to current infusions, and be able to choose the administration rate.
7. Hygiene Mechanics – Functional sink, soap dispenser, and towel dispenser.
8. Vitals – Must be able to observe vitals on a monitor and allow the nurse to announce that they will take vitals before recording data.
9. Focused Patient Assessment – Allow nurse to observe lung and heart sounds, patient pulse, skin color, history of CVAs, prior pain medication administration, etc.
10. IV Site Assessment – Allow nurse to inspect IV site for signs of infiltration or extravasation, do a light palpation, and review a list of abnormalities that display upon interacting with the 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. When running the program via the headset, this layer builds and uploads the program to the headset via the PC.
Results
As a project that’s been in the works for few years now, our goal was to finalize the simulation and fix potential bugs. The current status of the project is close to complete. All four hospice care scenarios are complete and most bugs that we encountered have been resolved. Some of the bugs we fixed include:
- Not being able to open door
- Walking too fast
- Unable to ring doorbell
- Unable to pick up mask
- Unable to use rag/gloves
- Blank screens in scenario 4
Demo Video (link)
Future Work
- Create automated tests
- Adding popup guides as you go
- Optimizing memory
- Fix small bugs
- Improve movement fluidity
- Release and deployment
Project Files
Project Charter (link)
System Requirements Specification (link)
Architectural Design Specification (link)
Detailed Design Specification (link)
Poster (link)
References
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