Designing wound assessment and management (WAM) educational modules: virtual simulation games and a virtual quiz

Study Lead

Marian Luctkar-Flude

Associate Professor

Students

Nicole Shipton, BNSc student Queen’s University

Study Co-investigators

Jane Tyerman, RN, PhD, CCSNE Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa, School of Nursing

Kevin Woo, RN, PhD, NSWOC, WOCC(C), FAPWCA Associate Professor, Queen’s University, School of Nursing

Deborah Tregunno, RN, PhD Associate Professor, Queen’s University, School of Nursing

Barbara Wilson-Keates, RN, PhD Assistant Professor, Athabasca University, School of Nursing

Idevania Costa, RN, PhD Assistant Professor, Lakehead University, School of Nursing

Marzieh Moattari, PhD York University

What? We plan to develop an online wound care module for nurses and nursing students made up of bilingual virtual simulation games (VSGs). The VSGs will have embedded feedback and a virtual simulation quiz (VSQ) that "put it all together". Each VSG is filmed from a first-person point of view so the learner can "walk in the nurse's shoes" as they make wound care decisions. The quiz will allow learners to apply their knowledge and assess their wound care competency.

Why? Wounds affect Canadians of all ages and can negatively impact their quality of life, leading to social isolation, loss of independence, and depression. Nurses play a key role in assessing and managing wounds in home, hospital, and long-term care. It is important for nurses to have knowledge of the risk factors, assessment and treatment options for a range of wound types. However, current evidence indicates that nurses' wound care knowledge remains inadequate.

How? Four to six nursing faculty and students will be invited to test the games and provide feedback on their usability. After any changes deemed necessary have been made, a larger group of 80 nursing students will be invited to take part in the games. Their wound care knowledge will be evaluated before and after playing the games to assess perceived achievement of the learning outcomes. Wound care knowledge and decision-making will also be evaluated by a virtual quiz.

Impact of findings: The use of clinical or virtual simulation to explore wound care assessment and management has not been researched much to date. We believe that virtual simulation games could be used to teach and provide nursing students with opportunities to apply evidence-based principles of wound care.

Funded By

Registered Nurses’ Foundation of Ontario Nurse Innovator Award