The Effect of Preoperative Patient Preparation Video Shown Through Virtual Reality Goggles on Empathy Levels in Nursing Students (PPP-VR)

This study was planned to evaluate the effect of a preoperative patient preparation video, shown to nursing students via virtual reality glasses, on the development of empathy skills towards the perioperative process.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Empathy Skills
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: VR Video

Detailed Description

In recent years, virtual reality (VR)-based simulations used to support nursing students in understanding empathy and patient experience have been shown to enhance students' empathy and patient perspective skills. However, evidence regarding the impact of experiencing the preoperative patient preparation process with VR on nursing students' empathy and patient safety-focused perspectives towards the perioperative process is limited. Therefore, examining the effect of VR-based preoperative patient preparation experience on empathy levels in nursing students emerges as a scientific and educational necessity for improving perioperative nursing education and supporting patient-centered and safe care.

The study will be conducted with second-year nursing undergraduate students who will be taking the Surgical Nursing course.

The change in empathy scores at the end of the semester will be compared between students who participated in the VR-based preoperative preparation simulation application and those who did not.

Students will be randomly assigned to groups.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Nuran Aysen PAMIR AKSOY; Phone Number: +902165004405; Email: aysen.aksoy@acibadem.edu.tr

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Other
    • Istanbul, Other, Turkey (Türkiye), 34752
      • Recruiting
      • Acibadem University
      • Contact: Nuran Aysen PAMIR AKSOY; Phone Number: 02165004405; Email: aysen.aksoy@acibadem.edu.tr
      • Contact: Email: aysen.aksoy@acibadem.edu.tr
      • Principal Investigator: Nuran Aysen PAMIR AKSOY

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being enrolled in and attending the Surgical Nursing course at the institution where the research is being conducted, and taking the course for the first time

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having worked or currently working in an operating room.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual Realty Video Group; The students will be taken to an area prepared as a patient room in the simulation laboratory. They will be placed on a bed, playing the role of a patient. They will be shown a 360° pre-operative patient preparation video via VR glasses. The visual content used in the study was recorded with an Insta360 X4 brand 360° action camera. The video includes processes such as identity verification, preoperative evaluation, anesthesia preparation, transfer to the operating room, time-out procedure, etc. The video is approximately 9.5 minutes long. In addition to the VR experience, students in the intervention group will participate in theoretical lectures on the perioperative process, using lecture and question-and-answer methods as outlined in the surgical nursing course curriculum.	Other: VR Video; The nursing students in the experimental group 360° pre-operative patient preparation video via VR glasses. The visual content used in the study was recorded with an Insta360 X4 brand 360° action camera. The video includes processes such as identity verification, preoperative evaluation, anesthesia preparation, transfer to the operating room, time-out procedure, etc. The video is 9.5 minutes long.
No Intervention: Control group; Students in the control group will not be included in the VR experience. They will attend only theoretical lectures using lecture and question-and-answer methods on the perioperative process, as outlined in the curriculum.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Empathy score	Empathy scores will be measured by the Jefferson Empathy Scale - Health Professions Students Form (JSE-HPS): developed to assess the empathic tendencies of health professions students in a clinical context, and will be used as the primary empathy measurement tool in this study. The scale was developed by Hojat et al. to measure the empathic attitudes of health professionals towards patient care and was later adapted for health professions students. The JSE-HPS is a self-report scale consisting of 7-point Likert-type items that reflect both cognitive and affective components of empathy in a clinical relationship context. 20 items 7-point Likert score range: 20-140 higher score = higher empathy	Time Frame: Baseline; immediately post-intervention; 12th weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cognitive and affective empathy measured by the Cognitive and Affective Empathy Scale (CAES)	Cognitive and Affective Empathy Scale (CAES): Developed by Reniers et al. in 2011, this scale assesses empathy under two main components: cognitive empathy and affective empathy. QCAE's robust psychometric structure provides a significant advantage for research seeking to examine empathy in detail across its sub-dimensions. 31 items subscales: cognitive & affective empathy higher score = higher empathy	Time Frame: Baseline; immediately post-intervention; 12th weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Acibadem University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 25, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 5, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 27, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 1, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 7, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 7, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 1, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: ATADEK 2025-20/752

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No