NCCU uses new immersive technology to teach next batch of N.C. nurses

DURHAM, N.C. — Artificial intelligence is making its way into one university’s curriculum to help teach the next batch of North Carolina nurses.

North Carolina Central University is the first in the state to have an immersive technology room on campus. It’s a new way for students to learn and grow in preparation for their career in medicine. 

The room on the second floor of the nursing building lets students engage in virtual medical training scenarios. The scenarios include therapeutic communication, mental health, post-operative complications and rural community health simulations. The school has more than 2,000 scenarios.

The room is built to help students with real-life situations that will prepare them for when they are working with a patient.

“They’re actually put in situations and have to make critical decisions and assess their patients appropriately,” said Dr. Janice Collins-McNeil, associate professor in NCCU’s Department of Nursing. “So here we were able to create the cell, for instance, for the students to be able to walk through, we’ve been able to, develop cardiac exercises so that the students become totally familiar with the heart.”

The Nursing Department is also using virtual reality systems with AI to help students feel more comfortable with real-life patient interactions.

“So usually at the first interaction I clam up. But with the VR now, it has helped me open up and actually practice what I’m going to say before I say it,” Noa Ledger, a senior nursing student, said. “When you start the scenario, you now can check out your patient informations at the front desk. That’s like the first thing you see when you walk through the door. And then you can go to the patient rooms. You can see the patient rooms on the sides, you can go to the medication room and everything.”

In addition, the immersive rooms offers 360-degree cameras, so they can create their own scenarios.