Maximising sensory learning through immersive education

Abstract

The use of simulated learning in nurse education is not new and much has been written regarding various approaches to using low, medium and high-fidelity approaches. Reality or fidelity is important in terms of creating quality learning using simulation; however, within the literature there is a strong focus on the use of computerised mannequins, rather than on the environment in which the simulation occurs. It is accepted that scenarios on which simulation is based should represent the reality of the clinical world, where students are enabled to learn through active participation in situation which they will likely encounter in the real world. Nurses retrieve information from patients using all of their senses; indeed nursing text books advocate the use of a multi-sensory approach to assessment. Using the senses is often highlighted as part of active learning reinforcing the need for seeing, noticing and observing as a central principle; however other senses may be just as important in terms of active learning. Educators need to determine which aspects of clinical simulation are most important for learning. For example, are motor, cognitive and sensory aspects of equal importance? This paper describes the emerging technology enabling educators to introduce a range of sensory learning stimuli, for example, the use of smell as a clinical indicator and sophisticated suits which provide the wearer with tactile feedback. We go on to consider the potential value of such mechanisms to learning through simulation.