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The (virtual) reality of healthcare education

25 November 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Bennie Botha brings another element of teaching to the classroom for future healthcare professionals. Here, he facilitates a session with students from the School of Nursing.

These days we are surrounded by technology. Interactive whiteboards, 3-D printers, smartphones, laptops, e-books, and virtual reality (VR).

VR was previously associated with the gaming industry, but today it has many uses, including the healthcare industry and more specifically, the field of nursing.

A staff member in the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS), Bennie Botha, explains that he always had a fascination with VR. With VR being more affordable to the general user and with him working in the School of Nursing, he wanted to make a difference by providing a more financially sustainable way for students to integrate theory and practical work.

It was then that Botha, in collaboration with staff from the Department of Computer Science and Informatics and the School of Nursing, developed a virtual environment to train Nursing students as part of his master’s thesis. The title of his dissertation is: Measuring the usability and user experience of virtual reality as a teaching and learning method for nursing students. His supervisor, Dr Lizette de Wet of the Department of Computer Science and Informatics, said the cooperation between two disciplines is important. “This research can make a big contribution towards teaching and learning,” she said.

Adding to existing technology-rich environment

This simulation in a computer-generated environment adds another element to teaching. Instead of only listening to a lecturer, students are immersed in a relevant teaching scenario and are able to interact within a 3D medical institution, treating and taking care of 3D patients.

The UFS School of Nursing has implemented this first for South Africa, using VR as an instrument to train nursing students. Currently, third-year students and postgraduate Paediatrics students are exposed to this way of training.

This new invention for the School of Nursing adds to the already existing technology-rich environment of the Clinical Simulation Unit within the school; a facility where healthcare students are exposed to training in a safe environment without harming the patient, using high-fidelity patient manikins.

Cost-effective simulation platform

According to Botha, VR provides a cost-effective simulation platform that can be used to augment high-fidelity simulations. “It is also a low-cost alternative for institutions that do not have the capital to implement high-fidelity simulations. By implementing new innovative teaching methods, we aim to provide quality healthcare professionals who can showcase the educational excellence of the School of Nursing at the UFS,” says Botha.

Rector content

Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, visited the School of Nursing and engaged in the simulator-based game.
(Photo: Supplied)

He explains the process: “Virtual reality provides students with an opportunity to learn by engaging in a simulator-based game. The virtual environment requires the students to perform a respiratory foreign-body object simulation scenario. Before each virtual simulation session, students are briefed and given the relevant outcomes of the scenario. Students also receive a quick tutorial on the use of the controllers and the head-mounted display.”

“Once a session is complete, a debriefing session is held where students can reflect on the outcome of the simulation. They can view a recording of their own actions for self-reflection afterwards.”

Botha believes the VR environment he created for Nursing students contributes to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, giving the UFS a competitive edge in new developments and the use of innovative teaching and learning technology.

News Archive

Census 2011 overshadowed by vuvuzela announcements

2012-11-20

Mike Schüssler, economist
Photo: Hannes Pieterse
15 November 2012

Complete Lecture (MP3)

Census 2011 contains good statistics but these are overshadowed by vuvuzela announcements and a selective approach, economist Mike Schüssler said at a presentation at the UFS.

“Why highlight one inequality and not another success factor? Is Government that negative about itself?” Mr Schüssler, owner of Economist.co.za, asked.

“Why is all the good news such as home ownership, water, lights, cars, cellphones, etc. put on the back burner? For example, we have more rooms than people in our primary residence. Data shows that a third of Africans have a second home. Why are some statistics that are racially based not made available, e.g. orphans? So are “bad” statistics not always presented?”

He highlighted statistics that did not get the necessary attention in the media. One such statistic is that black South Africans earn 46% of all income compared to 39% of whites. The census also showed that black South Africans fully own nearly ten times the amount of houses that whites do. Another statistic is that black South Africans are the only population group to have a younger median age. “This is against worldwide trends and in all likelihood has to do with AIDS. It is killing black South Africans more than other race groups.”

Mr Schüssler also gave insight into education. He said education does count when earnings are taken into account. “I could easily say that the average degree earns nearly five times more than a matric and the average matric earns twice the pay of a grade 11.”

He also mentioned that people lie in surveys. On the expenditure side he said, “People apparently do not admit that they gamble or drink or smoke when asked. They also do not eat out but when looking at industry and sector sales, this is exposed and the CPI is, for example, reweighted. They forget their food expenditure and brag about their cars. They seemingly spend massively on houses but little on maintenance. They spend more than they earn.”

“On income, the lie is that people forget or do not know the difference between gross and net salaries. People forget garnishee orders, loan repayments and certainly do not have an idea what companies pay on their behalf to pensions and medical aid. People want to keep getting social grants so they are more motivated to forget income. People are scared of taxes too so they lower income when asked. They spend more than they earn in many categories.”

On household assets Mr Schüssler said South Africans are asset rich but income poor. Over 8,3 million black African families stay in brick or concrete houses out of a total of 11,2 million total. About 4,9 million black families own their own home fully while only 502 000 whites do (fully paid off or nearly ten times more black families own their own homes fully). Just over 880 000 black South Africans are paying off their homes while 518 000 white families are.

Other interesting statistics are that 13,2 million people work, 22,5 million have bank accounts, 19,6 million have credit records. Thirty percent of households have cars, 90% of households have cellphones and 80% of households have TVs.

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