The Virtual Frontier: A Systematic Review of the New Nursing Role in Integrating, Dispensing, and Ethical Stewardship of Virtual Reality for Therapeutic Use with Patients and Clinical Education
Abstract
Background: Virtual Reality (VR) has become a valuable therapeutic and educational tool in healthcare, leveraging its capacity to create immersion and controlled environments for pain management, rehabilitation, mental therapy, and clinical training. In spite of this promise, the specific contribution of the nursing profession to the application and management of VR has been underemphasized in the literature.
Aim: The aim of this review is to synthesize literature from 2015 to 2024 to explore the nursing function within the VR environment in all its dimensions, with a particular focus on therapeutic applications, practical responsibilities in VR organization, and nursing application of VR in learning.
Methods: A systematic review of the primary academic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO) for English-language literature published between 2015 and 2024 was employed to undertake a narrative review. Search keywords were virtual reality, nursing role, patient therapy, and nursing education.
Results: The review supports the efficacy of VR in several clinical disciplines and presents the emerging role of the nurse as clinical advocate, VR administrator, safety officer, and outcomes evaluator. The review also identifies VR as a groundbreaking tool in nursing education and observes such prevailing challenges as practical hindrances, patient safety concerns like cybersickness, and ethical issues related to data confidentiality and fair access.
Conclusion: Nurses are central to the safe, effective, and ethical application of VR in healthcare. Reaching its full potential relies on defining the nursing role with targeted education, development of clear clinical procedures, and policy that facilitates its sustained and equitable integration into routine practice.
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Authors
Copyright (c) 2024 Khalid Abdullah Mudaysh Bajawi, Abdullah Mussa Ahmad Sairafi, Abdulrahman Abdullah Najdi, Aqeel Mohammed Ahmed Majmi, Yahya Atiah Hassan Faqihi, Hawraa Abdulhadi Haashim Alsadah, Nouf Nasser Abdulaziz Almulhim, Zainab Abdullah Alburayh, Fatimah Yousef Abdullah Alobud, Sawsan Hussain Mohammed Alawad, Rawan Fahad Abdultif Alzuwayyid, Rawan Abdulrahman Al Marzooq, Asala Hamdan Alruwaili, Fatimah Yassen Abdullah Alalawi
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