New VR lending library immerses staff in realistic scenarios to boost learning
At the JGH recently, four nurses were thrust into a pulse-racing emergency in an operating room: A patient in cardiac arrest needed urgent resuscitation. “Attach the paddles!” the doctor instructed, as a nurse placed defibrillator pads on the patient’s chest. “Stand clear!”
The four nurses were in the centre of the action—yet they had never left their desk. They were wearing virtual reality (VR) headsets that plunged them into the scene virtually, part of a new offering by the Directorate of Learning Partnerships and Knowledge Activation in partnership with OROT.
Since January, staff at our CIUSSS have had access to VR headsets and a catalogue of modules that offer immersive healthcare experiences. The VR lending library—believed to be the first of its kind in a healthcare setting in Quebec—functions the same way as a traditional library, but instead of lending books, it lends experiences.
Staff from any site of our CIUSSS can borrow VR headsets, get training in how to use them, and access the library’s catalogue of modules on a range of topics. These address real-life situations faced routinely by healthcare workers: What’s your role in the OR when a patient is in cardiac arrest? How does it feel to be in the shoes of a patient with dementia?
“The mission of the library has always been to connect people with knowledge,” says To Nhu Nguyen, Director of Learning Partnerships and Knowledge Activation (formerly Academic Affairs). “But the way we connect with knowledge today is different from even five or 10 years ago.”
Through immersive 3D experiences, staff can step into realistic clinical settings to help prepare for situations they may not encounter day to day, Ms. Nguyen explains. Such simulations can be especially valuable for re-creating high-stress scenarios. For example, one VR simulation puts users in the middle of a crisis with a patient experiencing a drug overdose.
“You can read about something, but until you actually experience it, you don’t remember it as well.”
To Nhu Nguyen
The four nurses attending a training session at OROT’s offices in the JGH were eager to learn how VR could support training for their teams. The four—Luz Arroyave, Catherine Newberry, Chedly Augustin and Julie Verville—are all Nursing Educators and Advisors from the Frontline Directorate’s community health team. They said they saw benefits in the VR experiences.
The scenario showing the patient in cardiac arrest, for example, helped clearly highlight the role of each individual healthcare worker during a Code Blue emergency, Ms. Newberry said. “You could see a team get organized, with each person in their specific role. You feel more in the heat of the action than watching a video.”
Ms. Verville watched a module that puts the viewer in the skin of a woman with dementia who’s out for a walk. The woman mistakes a puddle on the sidewalk for a hole, and is seized by panic. “It let me feel closer to her experience and understand her better,” Ms. Verville said. “I felt empathy and compassion for her.”
Assisting in their training were Johana Dahan and Harold Fortin, both from the Directorate of Learning Partnerships and Knowledge Activation (known as DPAAS, Partenariats d’apprentissage et de l’activation des savoirs).
While some of the modules allow participants to witness content, others—such as one showing the anatomy of a heart—are interactive. And the current library is set to expand: DPAAS wants staff to provide feedback and suggestions to help it build its catalogue.
VR is playing an expanding role in staff training in our CIUSSS. In addition to the modules available through the lending library, the DPAAS team has developed its own immersive offerings. A series of VR scenarios on preventing mistreatment was provided to hundreds of staff at SAPA residential care sites in 2025, part of a learning approach that also included discussion and encouraged reflection. Another series of immersive scenarios was developed by DPAAS for Virtual Care team members who are assisting patients receiving palliative care at home.
Feedback has been extremely positive, and staff finds that training with VR is a less passive experience than viewing a PowerPoint presentation or watching a webinar, Ms. Nguyen says.
“Knowledge is all around us, and there’s more information than ever before,” she explains. “We want to use technology to connect people in a meaningful way to the knowledge they need to do their work.”
*Staff from any CIUSSS site can reserve a VR headset and book a training session at OROT, Room A-200 at the JGH. Training sessions can also be organized upon request for teams at other CIUSSS sites.
