is partnering with the to include virtual reality training in its curriculum for .
The nearly $800,000 project is funded by the North Carolina Collaboratory, which was created by the General Assembly to conduct research across the UNC System to inform policymaking on the state and local levels.
Under the program, nursing students will start using virtual reality during their junior year to train in clinical environments like hospitals, simulating real-world experiences. Through virtual reality, Leslee Battle 鈥� the dean of WSSU鈥檚 Health and Sciences School 鈥� said the program鈥檚 faculty can control what happens to make sure that the students get the most experience and more practice.
鈥淲e all know the more that you are repeating certain activities, the better it is retained,鈥� Battle said.
Battle added that the training begins with knowing the fundamentals, like hand washing, and progresses as the student goes through the nursing program.
鈥淲e're able to both use it as a learning tool for the students to go through鈥� as well as an assessment,鈥� Battle said. 鈥淔or example, faculty can add a reminder in a session for the student to wash their hands when they enter a patient鈥檚 room; then add an assessment to see if the student remembers to wash their hand during another session.鈥�
According to Battle, Winston-Salem State is the first historically Black college or university in North Carolina to use virtual reality training in its nursing program.
