Abstract

Background

Medication errors occur in highly complex health care environments. A challenge exists to replicate complex environments to study the effect on medication error rates. Virtual reality three-dimensional (3-D) simulation holds promise for faithfully duplicating such environments.

Methods

A proof of concept study was conducted to examine the feasibility of virtual reality 3-D simulation to reliably mirror medication withdrawal from an electronic medication dispensing system (Pyxis) in a complex health care environment using a convenience sample of clinical nursing faculty.

Results

Participants felt that the simulated environment was realistic. The computer-generated Pyxis system did not function as well in the virtual environment compared with an actual environment. A perceived discrepancy between the actual process and the simulation was identified as a problem requiring further refinement.