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Category: School of Nursing

School of Nursing student Luke Stuchlik wears his nursing uniform and an Oculus headset while extending one arm out using the controller as he's transported from a classroom in McDowell Hall into a hospital setting as part of virtual reality simulation training.

Senior honors nursing student Luke Stuchlik said he feels as though he’s been transported into a hospital room as he works to care for four patients as part of a new virtual reality simulation offering in the School of Nursing.

Next-level nursing

February 21, 2023 Written by Amy Cherry | Photo by Ashley Barnas

UD School of Nursing adds immersive virtual reality to simulation offerings

Luke Stuchlik wanders around a non-descript room inside the University of Delaware’s McDowell Hall wearing an Oculus headset. His movements to a lay person look a bit aimless, but they’re quite deliberate.

He extends his hand to touch a patient, pulls a trigger on a controller to pick up a stethoscope, and as he listens to the patient’s chest, the controller provides a rhythmic beat so he can determine the patient’s heart rate.

The senior honors nursing major has been transported into a hospital, where he’s immersed in a virtual reality (VR) scenario in which he has several patients to care for, and a virtual tech aims to help him with a variety of tasks. This virtual reality offering, or game, called “Prioritization,” developed by SimX initially for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and purchased by UD, tests delegation skills and is the latest addition to the School of Nursing’s innovative simulation offerings.