UTS Introduces Compulsory VR Aggression Training
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has announced plans to make immersive virtual reality (VR) training in aggression and violence prevention compulsory for all first-year nursing students before they begin clinical placements.
The move arrives as healthcare workers across Australia continue to face violence and aggression at work. A recent survey by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association discovered that 88 per cent of nurses, midwives and carers had witnessed violence or aggression in the workplace.
The training programme was developed by Sydney-based participatory learning company Start Beyond and Workplace Safety Consultancy, ‘The Risk Collective’. The programme uses VR headsets to place students in realistic healthcare situations involving aggression. Participants must identify warning signs, make decisions under pressure, and use conflict-resolution techniques in an online environment.
UTS said the programme would become part of its nursing curriculum from next year. The university said more than 600 new nursing students each year would complete the training before starting clinical placements.
The decision is after a pilot programme conducted by the university. UTS said 90 per cent of participants found the simulation useful. They said it helped them identify early warning signs of aggression and take steps to de-escalate situations safely.
Professor Jacqui Pich, Deputy Head of School (Teaching and Learning) in the UTS School of Nursing & Midwifery, said the university wanted students to learn how to recognise situations that could become aggressive before they face them during clinical placements. She said VR gives students a more realistic learning experience while allowing them to train in a safe environment.
Professor Pich said the programme addresses a gap in medical education. She also said she would like to see more nursing programmes contemplate similar training.
Lucy Rosenberg, Clinical Academic Lead in the UTS School of Nursing & Midwifery, said nursing students can face difficult situations early in their careers and that aggression can occur during clinical placements. She said the programme helps students learn how to respond to aggressive situations and understand the impact of poor decisions in a safe setting.
Rosenberg said the VR simulations feel closer to real-life situations than classroom role-play exercises. She noted that participants interact with simulated healthcare scenarios rather than colleagues acting as patients.
Start Beyond Chief Executive Officer Angus Stevens said VR training provides a way to prepare healthcare workers for emotionally demanding situations without exposing them to actual-world risks. He said VR can help people learn by recreating situations they may face at work.
Stevens also noted that the company had observed similar outcomes in healthcare, retail and hospitality settings. He said healthcare professionals frequently work in stressful situations where unexpected situations can develop rapidly and become dangerous.
Stevens said the programme recreates these situations in VR so participants can practise their responses free of real-world risks.
Amy Towers, Founder and Principal Consultant at The Risk Collective, said the training scenarios were developed using behavioural research and workplace data. She stated that the organisation examined common patterns of aggressive behaviour across several sectors, including healthcare, aged care, retail and hospitality.
Towers said the analysis aimed to help participants recognise behaviours that may lead to aggression. She said the scenarios were based on research into behaviour and conflict resolution methods.
Towers said the programme teaches practical skills for stressful situations while permitting participants to learn without the emotional and physical risks of real-life incidents.
The programme developed by Start Beyond and The Risk Collective will be incorporated into the UTS nursing curriculum next year. Under the programme, all first-year nursing students will complete the VR training before starting clinical placements. The move follows the university’s pilot programme and comes amid continuing concerns about workplace aggression and violence harming healthcare workers across Australia.
