Virtual reality and conventional training for urinary catheterization:A multicenter usability and satisfaction study
Abstract
• What is currently known about this topic? Nurses’ involvement in evaluating healthcare devices drives technological innovation. • What the paper adds to existing knowledge? Virtual reality enhances nursing students' practical skills and provides usability feedback. • How the information in your manuscript can be applied to practice? VR-based training can be integrated into nursing curricula to improve device evaluation. Urinary Catheterization is a fundamental nursing procedure, but newly graduated nurses often lack sufficient practice due to limitations in conventional teaching, underscoring the need for innovative methods. To evaluate the effectiveness, satisfaction, and usability of virtual reality (VR) with T-Control technology for teaching urinary catheterization among nursing students, compared to conventional training methods. An observational multicenter study was conducted with nursing students from 2 Spanish universities. Participants were randomized into control (conventional training) and experimental (VR training) groups. Assessments included practical skill evaluation for both groups, a knowledge quiz for controls, and satisfaction plus usability questionnaires (System Usability Scale, SUS) for the experimental group. Forty-eight students participated (24 per group), mostly female (68.8%), mean age 22.22 ± 8.46. The experimental group obtained significantly higher skill scores than controls (6.79 ± 1.10 vs 5.75 ± 1.11; P = 0.002). Knowledge quiz results were high (97.91% ± 5.63%). Satisfaction was positive (6.53 ± 0.98/10), with inter-university differences ( P = 0.012). Usability reached acceptable levels (SUS 70.00 ± 20.04). Virtual reality training demonstrated superior performance across all parameters, indicating significant potential for enhancing urinary Catheterization education in nursing programs. Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/tscja/ )
Fields of Study & Subjects
Urinary Tract Infections Management
Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Teaching and learning in nursing
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e711–e717
- Publication date
- 9 January 2026
- Language
- EN