Their Own Words: The UbiSim Experience Through Students’ Eyes

At UbiSim, we’re proud of our impact on students’ engagement, understanding, and confidence in the classroom. Our immersive and interactive approach to learning has clear results on everything from psychological safety to clinical judgment.

Research led by Dr. Holldrid Odreman at Niagara College’s School of Nursing demonstrated that students who participated in UbiSim’s VR scenarios experienced significant improvements in psychological safety, which in turn, enhanced their clinical reasoning abilities.

Realistic and Engaging Learning Experiences

Students consistently share that UbiSim has realistic simulations that mirror real-world clinical settings. Amira, a pre-licensure nursing student at the University of West Florida School of Nursing, shared:

“It was very easy to get accustomed to. Once I started, it was very realistic.” — Amira, University of West Florida School of Nursing

This realism enables students to immerse themselves fully in various clinical scenarios, fostering a deeper understanding and retention of nursing concepts.

Enhanced Clinical Judgment and Hands-On Practice

For many nursing students, hands-on practice is essential for retaining and applying knowledge in clinical settings. Brianna, a pre-licensure nursing student, emphasized the importance of this approach:

“Some of us, like myself, are not very good at retaining that information without having hands-on experience with it… We'd come to the clinic the next week and do something in UbiSim or in our simulations with each other and really go over the material that we just learned and practice it with our hands.” — Brianna, University of West Florida School of Nursing

By providing a safe environment for hands-on practice, UbiSim helps students refine their clinical judgment and prepare for real-life nursing situations.

What Nursing Students Think About Learning with UbiSim

Building Confidence for Real-world Application

Through repeated exposure to diverse patient scenarios, students build confidence in their abilities.

“I feel like I learned a lot just from doing one session of UbiSim. It was very helpful to me, just being in different scenarios with different patients. The experience of actually being able to talk to the patient, the patient responds, and the patient being able to communicate with me, was really helpful for me. It just really made it feel more real and gave me the practice that I needed.” — Amira, University of West Florida School of Nursing

This immersive experience, where students can communicate with virtual patients and interact with medical tools, helps them build critical skills they’ll need in the field while also fostering confidence.

Immersive Realism in Nursing Education

The realism of UbiSim’s virtual reality simulations is one of its most transformative aspects. Daphne Niewijk, a fourth-year nursing student at NHL Stenden, described how this realism takes students from theoretical understanding to action:

“I always say when you look at it on screen, it’s always a bit like ‘is it going to be realistic when you get into UbiSIm?’ But then when you have the virtual reality glasses on, you want to act, and you want to help that patient, and you just really get sucked into the realism of the situation,  whether it is communicating with your colleagues or talking with the patient.” — Daphne Niewijk, NHL Stenden

This immersion is key to why UbiSim resonates so well with students—they feel like they are truly inside the scenario, making decisions and learning in a setting that closely mirrors the real-world challenges they will face as healthcare professionals.

Emotional Impact and Learning from Mistakes

The realism of UbiSim extends beyond technical skills—it also impacts students emotionally. Niels Kingma, a nursing student at NHL Stenden, shared how emotionally powerful the experience of losing a patient in a virtual scenario can be:

“UbiSim helps me to apply theory immediately. It makes the theory more tangible. For example, I was learning about protocol, which I found in UbiSim that I actually learned wrong. Because I was applying it as I had learned it, and the patient actually passed away. It was really scary to me, even though I knew it was a simulated person.” — Niels Kingma, NHL Stenden

This emotional engagement drives deeper learning, as students are able to experience the consequences of their actions in a safe, virtual space. These moments of reflection help reinforce critical skills and ensure students are better prepared for real-life situations.

The Realistic UbiSim Experience - Immersive VR Nursing Simulation

Final Thoughts: Transforming Nursing Education Through Immersive VR

In conversations and surveys, nursing students like Amira and Brianna highlight UbiSim’s transformative impact on their education. Whether it’s helping them apply theory, building their confidence in handling patients, or fostering critical clinical judgment, UbiSim provides a unique and effective platform for learning.

By integrating UbiSim into nursing curricula, educators are equipping the next generation of nursing professionals with the skills, knowledge, competence, and confidence they need to succeed in a complex field.