{"title":"Two important factors in virtual reality simulations: Nursing students' experiences of cybersickness and sense of presence","authors":"Atiye Erbaş RN, PhD , Elif Akyüz RN, PhD , Davide Giustivi RN , Daniele Privitera RN, PhD","doi":"10.1016/j.ecns.2025.101787","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>With the increasing popularity of employing virtual reality simulations in nursing education comes the need for more research examining their effects on users besides learning outcomes. This study explored nursing students' perceptions of a sense of presence and experiences of cybersickness in virtual reality simulations.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>A descriptive-analytic research design was employed. Between March and July 2024, 102 second-year undergraduate nursing students participated in an immersive virtual reality simulation focused on postoperative colorectal surgery care. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, the Presence Questionnaire, and the Virtual Reality Sickness Questionnaire. Student’s t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to compare variables.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The study revealed that nursing students experienced high levels of presence and only slight symptoms of cybersickness. Additionally, a statistically significant difference was observed both between gender and the adaptation/immersion subdimension of sense of presence, and between the presence of vision problems and the disorientation subdimension of cybersickness.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Since virtual reality is anticipated to become the leading teaching method in future nursing education, and therefore to maximize its potential, efforts should focus on increasing the sense of presence and reducing cybersickness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48753,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Simulation in Nursing","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 101787"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Simulation in Nursing","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876139925001045","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
With the increasing popularity of employing virtual reality simulations in nursing education comes the need for more research examining their effects on users besides learning outcomes. This study explored nursing students' perceptions of a sense of presence and experiences of cybersickness in virtual reality simulations.
Method
A descriptive-analytic research design was employed. Between March and July 2024, 102 second-year undergraduate nursing students participated in an immersive virtual reality simulation focused on postoperative colorectal surgery care. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, the Presence Questionnaire, and the Virtual Reality Sickness Questionnaire. Student’s t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to compare variables.
Results
The study revealed that nursing students experienced high levels of presence and only slight symptoms of cybersickness. Additionally, a statistically significant difference was observed both between gender and the adaptation/immersion subdimension of sense of presence, and between the presence of vision problems and the disorientation subdimension of cybersickness.
Conclusions
Since virtual reality is anticipated to become the leading teaching method in future nursing education, and therefore to maximize its potential, efforts should focus on increasing the sense of presence and reducing cybersickness.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Simulation in Nursing is an international, peer reviewed journal published online monthly. Clinical Simulation in Nursing is the official journal of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation & Learning (INACSL) and reflects its mission to advance the science of healthcare simulation.
We will review and accept articles from other health provider disciplines, if they are determined to be of interest to our readership. The journal accepts manuscripts meeting one or more of the following criteria:
Research articles and literature reviews (e.g. systematic, scoping, umbrella, integrative, etc.) about simulation
Innovative teaching/learning strategies using simulation
Articles updating guidelines, regulations, and legislative policies that impact simulation
Leadership for simulation
Simulation operations
Clinical and academic uses of simulation.