The North West Hospital and Health Services (NWHHS) requires all remote area Nurses to complete Neonatal resuscitation and imminent birth training as part of their mandatory training. There are many unique circumstances which hinder continued upskilling in maternity emergencies including, wet season and chronic short staffing. An alternative model of training was sought as remote health services continued to be obstructed from attended face-to-face training in Mount Isa. This is where the idea for offering Virtual reality maternity training to remote sites was first envisioned.
During 2023 and 2024 NWHHS employed a Midwife Educator for developing, implementing, and researching Virtual Reality maternity training to Registered Nurses working in remote health centres, it is hoped that virtual reality training will revolutionise education for remote HHS'.
Twenty virtual reality headsets and controllers are being dispersed between Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Normanton, Karumba, Mornington Island and Doomadgee. Ethics were sought and approved by the Townsville Ethics Committee to commence a research project to assess the participants' perceived preparedness for unexpected or unplanned maternity care in remote areas, following education delivered by Virtual Reality software.
