Loewenberg College of Nursing Increases Next Gen NCLEX Scores with UbiSim VR

Preparing students for the Next Gen NCLEX is no small feat. In their mission to elevate pass rates, The Loewenberg College of Nursing at The University of Memphis is committed to enhancing the student experience. Over the past two years, approximately 200 students and seven faculty members in the nursing program have adopted UbiSim's cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) platform, complementing other educational strategies, such as ATI resources. This approach, alongside other modalities, has boosted their pass rates. 

‍Key takeaways: 

• Immersive VR provides enhances student’s learning and preparation for NCLEX and clinical settings.
• UbiSim offers flexibility in clinical practice, especially in areas with limited clinical placement availability.
• VR ensures a psychologically safe learning environment where students can pause and discuss their experiences without the pressure of real-life consequences.‍

Enhancing learning with interactive tools

Brian Reeves, BSN, RN, Nursing Laboratory Manager: “I'm always looking for something interactive that's gonna grab our students' attention. In addition to being more prepared for when they get out and transition into the workforce, our ultimate goal is for them to pass the Next Gen NCLEX. We went with UbiSim to help because it had the most bang for our buck.”

Offering flexibility in clinical practice

Amy Luckey,  MSN, RN, Clinical Assistant Professor: “We have the most limited clinical placement availability out of the entire program, where med surge has four floors that they can choose from five days out of the week. There's one pediatric floor and one OB floor that seven different schools have to share. UbiSim has really given us the flexibility to say. ‘We didn't get to go to the hospital today. Let's go to the virtual Hospital.’ ”

Students experience more in VR

Lacee Harris, Clinical Assistant Professor: “I like VR because students can take care of some really sick people without having an actually sick kid or mom who may not make it. They do still get that experience where if it were happening in clinical, they’d get pushed out of the hospital room because the situation is too critical. So I do feel like they get to experience more and actually do more in VR.”

Time efficiency with VR

Lacee: “VR is a huge time saver. There’s no prep. There’s no cleanup. To individually run four different people through a laboring scenario would take all day and the reset in between each one would be a lot. Instead, students go at their own pace and we can do the prebrief, scenario, and debrief in a matter of 4 hours.”

Experiencing psychological safety

Amy: “I’m a firm believer in timeouts when using VR. Students may have some physical symptoms like sweating and turning red, so I say, “Let’s stop and talk about it.” In real life, that baby may never stop crying, so you’ve got to learn how to control yourself, but in this environment, it’s psychologically safe to take a break and practice.” 

Immersive experience Brian “UbiSim VR is totally immersive. The high-fidelity, you’re totally in it. In there, it’s a whole different world. They can’t see anything around them.”