Exploring Virtual Reality in Clinical Care - Impacts on Patient Distress, Parental Anxiety and Nurse Satisfaction

Prior experience with virtual reality (VR) in clinical care has demonstrated its potential to reduce patient anxiety and distress, particularly in pediatric settings. VR has been shown to effectively decrease preoperative anxiety in children undergoing various medical procedures, including IV catheter replacement, blood draws, and improve their compliance with anesthesia and overall procedural experiences. Limited evidence exists regarding the impact of VR on the broader care environment, including parental anxiety and nursing satisfaction in pediatric settings.

This retrospective study analyzes de-identified data from a nine-month quality improvement initiative to evaluate the impact of a custom VR intervention on pediatric preoperative anxiety, parental anxiety, and nurse satisfaction in a real clinical setting. The findings offer preliminary, practice-relevant evidence that VR can be a feasible, acceptable, and clinically meaningful non-pharmacologic tool in pediatric preoperative care, and they provide actionable insights to guide future implementation efforts and rigorous trials aimed at improving the hospital experience for children, families, and providers.