Pan-Canadian Virtual Simulation Program Survey-National Results: Quality Assurance, Program Evaluation, and Faculty Development

Abstract : A global shortage of healthcare providers necessitates creative solutions to enhance clinical learning opportunities. Alleviating the gap in clinical placement options, a pan-Canadian initiative, the Virtu-WIL program, was designed to develop, offer, and test over 100 work-integrated virtual simulations. Nursing, paramedicine, and medical laboratory technologist students participated in the program.

Kirkpatrick’s model guided a mixed methods evaluation exploring students’ experiences with virtual simulations and the impact on their clinical practice. The survey, validated subscales and open-ended items, captured students reported experiences and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Thematic analysis of open-ended comments were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) process.

Enrollees in the Virtu-WIL program, 1715 students representing 18 post-secondary universities, colleges, and institutions across Canada, completed the survey. Students reported high overall satisfaction (86.2%), ease of use, and engagement (X=82/100), realistic, meaningful, and immersive experiences that contributed to their learning and perceptions of readiness for practice.

Virtual simulation has emerged as a learning modality that can help students develop key employability skills. This presentation will create opportunities for conversations to empower faculty for pedagogical incorporation of virtual simulations. We anticipate that the findings from this large, multi-site evaluation will be of interest to educators from a range of programs who are interested in adopting virtual simulation in education. The virtual simulation experiences used in this project are freely available through creative commons licensing to the global health care community at https://simulationcanada.ca/virtu-wil/.