Creating Interprofessional Best Practices in Education for Care of the Transgender Community using 360-Virtual Reality and Simulation.

Abstract

Transgender individuals face significant health disparities, including barriers to accessing gender-affirming care. Nursing education plays a crucial role in preparing future registered nurses to deliver respectful and competent care to transgender individuals. This educational project aimed to design a series of interprofessional unfolding case study modules via 360-virtual reality and face-to-face simulations within a 4-year pre-licensure nursing curriculum to address the health inequities for the transgender community. Following the simulations, focus groups were used to analyze benefits and challenges as perceived by student learners through a social constructivist lens. Findings supported that the use of a multi-modal simulation approach fostered student learning related to the care of the transgender individual. More education in health-care curricula is needed to enhance inclusivity and skilled provision of care for transgender individuals.