VR nursing education suites open at UNB

FREDERICTON – Thanks to the generosity of nursing alumna Margie Mallory (BN’68) and her partner, Duncan MacDonald (BBA’68), nursing students at the University of New Brunswick now have access to two state-of-the art suites for virtual reality pediatric nursing education.

The Margaret Mallory Pediatric Simulation Suites were officially opened at a ceremony on Oct. 19. The Fredericton suite is located at Room 119 of MacLaggan Hall, and the Moncton suite is located at Room 216 of 55 Lutz Street.

Dr. Lorna Butler, dean of nursing and health sciences, said the simulation suites are part of UNB’s effort to redefine how nurses are educated in response to a world-wide critical shortage of nurses. It’s all part of UNB’s innovative, technologically assisted nursing education delivery model, Learn Where You Live.

“We have expanded the use of advanced simulation and extended reality education (SIM/XRed), interdisciplinary training and global partnerships to ensure nursing students are educated at the highest standard of skill development and ready to practice in the clinical setting,” Butler said. “At the same time, we are deploying the latest technological advances to bring nursing education to other nations and the most remote parts of Canada.”

“Because of the technological advances we have been able to adopt, thanks to the generosity and foresight of alumni donors like Margie and Duncan, UNB boasts the only nursing program in Canada to earn accreditation through the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement,” Butler said.

The Margaret Mallory Pediatric Simulation Suites give UNB nursing instructors the opportunity to teach essential skills at a distance and proficiency level that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

CBC News reported that the systems can simulate a wide variety of problems.

“The baby can seize, the baby can cry, move … we can do IV medications, we can catheterize the baby,” said Dawn Burke, the Fredericton simulation strategist and a UNB teaching professor.

“Really, everything that we could do with the patient, we can actually do with the infant mannequin.”

The focus on pediatric care enables students to learn how to deal with medical crises in newborns and babies with simulation technology, so they are better prepared to face such emergencies in the workplace.

Dr. Kathy Wilson, UNB’s acting president and vice chancellor and a member of the faculty of nursing herself, praised the investment.

“UNB is operating at the leading edge of nursing education because of engaged nursing alumni like Margie Mallory. When Margie saw this technology in action, she immediately realized how it could be used to teach critically important skills,” Wilson said.

“From mature and upgrading students, who cannot afford to uproot their lives and drop their careers to become full-time residential students, to nursing learners in the northern territories, to students in other nations, these simulation learning suites will give UNB the capacity to teach effective nursing concepts and skills to more students than ever before,” Wilson said.

Butler said the simulation approach comes from what the university learned during the pandemic.

“The world around us has changed in terms of how healthcare can be delivered and is delivered, and how we can educate in ways that maybe we didn’t before,” Butler said.

She added that the virtual reality technology has also been used to teach students who can’t attend in-person, such as students in Miramichi.

Moreover, when representatives from the Yukon came to visit, they saw what the university was offering. They asked to have Yukon nurses train using the virtual technology because often, when a student leaves the territory, they don’t return.

Now, three different groups of students from the Yukon are part of the nursing program but never come to campus, Butler said.

About UNB
Established in 1785, the University of New Brunswick is Canada’s longest-standing English-language university and New Brunswick’s only national comprehensive institution. Located on the unsurrendered and unceded traditional Wolastoqey land, UNB’s Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton campuses welcome nearly 10,000 students from over 100 countries, offering a world-class education across more than 250 innovative programs, certificates and diplomas. UNB is New Brunswick’s sponsored research leader, advancing knowledge in areas including energy, health, environment and security. Together, UNB is transforming communities and helping shape a more just, equitable and inclusive world.