Towards Simulation Training for Nursing Surveillance

Patient safety within hospitals is a growing concern in the medical community, since adverse events in hospitals often lead to prolonged stays due to complications, or patient death. Unfortunately, registered nurses fail to recognize the subtle changes and trends of deteriorating patients, possibly due to lack of repetitive and interactive continuing education opportunities for nursing surveillance. We developed the Rapid Response Training System (RRTS), which simulates a hospital, its patients, and their health records within a 3D virtual environment so that a nurse can practice observation and interpretation of patient symptoms towards better recognition of rapidly deteriorating patients. The RRTS was carefully designed for situated learning and broad usability and has the potential to increase patient safety by providing nurses with opportunities to improve surveillance skills.