W ales Virtual Hospital is a collaborative project that aims to offer a multidisciplinary and cross-speciality undergraduate and postgraduate online virtual environment , that maximises clinical learning outcomes ( AWSEM 2023 ).
The project , hosted at Cardiff University , working in partnership with a range of Welsh health boards , universities and Health Education and Improvement Wales , allows online virtual learning experiences to be designed that can enhance the clinical learning opportunities of an assortment of health care professionals .
While practice based placements are an essential component of all healthcare students ’ education , Wales Virtual Hospital has been developed to try to address the recognised inconsistencies of experience across students , due to the very nature of the practice environment .
This inconsistency is no different for occupational therapy students who also , due to the ever-growing variety of settings where practice occurs , may or may not experience some of the more traditional health settings that they are likely to encounter as newly qualified therapists .
Students themselves have identified that some of them may not undertake a practice based placement in an acute hospital setting , a setting that they recognise as fast paced , dynamic and potentially stressful , as hospital teams aim to meet and manage the immediate health needs of unwell patients ( Britton et al 2015 ).
In discussion with practice partners , it was agreed that the unique environment of the acute hospital , in addition to the pace of the work undertaken , was indeed anecdotally observed to be initially stressful for students and / or those newly graduated and as such , targeted preparation could be beneficial prior to placement or practice .
A unique way to augment placements ?
It was deemed that Virtual Hospital , which had up until this point not been utilised by occupational therapy in Wales , could offer a unique approach to design , in partnership with local practitioners , online learning opportunities that could augment placement / practice preparation in acute hospital settings .
This led to an initial Occupational Therapy Virtual Hospital project , which was a collaborative venture between six occupational therapy practitioners from across three health boards and two university educators from Cardiff University and University of South Wales ( USW ).
Following initial group discussions , where members drew on their own experiences as practitioners and practice educators , three virtual scenarios were proposed .
The first identified the need to support students to orientate themselves around a ward and the various equipment that they may encounter . The other two focused on assessments frequently undertaken on the ward and in an occupational therapy kitchen .
The team then took various roles , either to storyboard the virtual learning opportunities or to explore the technology .
Once the scenarios had been finalised on paper , filming took place . The technology allowed for a 360 degree still environment to be captured , which worked well for the ward environment scenario .
Content was embedded , allowing students to stop their tour of the ward to explore equipment that had been carefully selected and positioned prior to filming .
The bedside and kitchen assessments were immersive , the team recruited colleagues and students during filming to support them to demonstrate a typical mobility and transfer assessment on the ward and a series of kitchen assessments .
To complete these e-learning packages a series of questions were embedded to ensure students were prompted to stop and reflect on what they had observed .
Occupational therapy students at both universities already take part in simulated learning experiences to support them to apply theory to practice and practise and / or consolidate skills required for placement .
This initial series of online virtual learning opportunities utilising Virtual Hospital were designed to complement this . They were intended to offer additional opportunities for individual students to work through the e-packages ( repeatedly if they wish ) as part of their own professional development , or to be built into workshops where small groups could work through them together .
Additionally , practice colleagues can access them and use them to support students when they are out on placement .
Evaluation and feedback
To ensure the value of Occupational Therapy Virtual Hospital as an online teaching tool , a
June 2023 OTnews 29