All health workers in Dyrøy municipality have trained in VR
The employees say that training in this way is gold and that they will without a doubt use VR for training. They liked that they could use their knowledge of ABCDE in a practical, realistic setting to train on rare and potentially critical patient situations.
Dyrøy municipality is one of the municipalities that invests in skills development through the KlinObs-Kommune model. During the spring of 2021, all employees in the health service received training in ABCDE (step 1 in the model) through a traditional physical course. After the course, they were able to carry out quantity training on ABCDE in VR. The introduction and use of VR for extensive training was well received and the employees say that this day has been one of the funnest working days in a long time. The employees say that training in this way is golden and that they will without a doubt use VR for training. They liked that they could use their knowledge of ABCDE in a practical, real-life setting to train on rare and potentially critical patient situations
After completed courses, managers in Dyrøy municipality state that it has become easier to plan operations, rotations and assemble teams. They feel they have a better overview of the level of competence of the employees and feel secure in having established basic competence among employees and temps. They state that they get a better decision-making basis, more thorough reporting and better documentation in the patient record. They also experience a decrease in sickness absence. They consider VR an effective tool for "low-threshold internal training" and for the maintenance of competence since the learning arena, materials and equipment are so easily accessible.
Introduction and implementation of VR training in Dyrøy municipality is an ongoing process. It has so far been a success due to two factors - VR training is rooted in management and having a good plan for the VR training. Dyrøy has 3 super users who guided the VR training. They received time and resources from the management to familiarize themselves with the tool before the training with the employees.
VR - is also demonstrated in that politicians and leaders in the municipality were allowed to participate as passive actors on the big screen in a short demonstration. The implementation gave those present a good insight into the value of this technology as well as the contours of the possibilities in the future. Likewise, this way of working appeals to the younger generation. Both students from secondary school and upper secondary school as well as students in practice are attracted by this technology, which they may see even greater value in than the well-to-do adults.
Dyrøy and Tromsø municipality are now working together to create routines and procedures for integrating VR training into daily operations.