Abstract:

Introduction:
Communication is essential for the nursing practice; such competence is not intuitive and must be taught. Serious games in 3D virtual reality can support the nursing teaching-learning process; students connected to the virtual world can apply what they have learned in their professional practice. The objective of the study was to develop the serious game "Comunica-enf" using immersive virtual reality to improve nursing students' knowledge and confidence in communicating with patients and families. The specific objectives were: to describe the content and technical development process of the serious game "Comunica-enf" in virtual reality; evaluate the serious game "Comunica-enf" regarding appearance and usability.

Methodology:
The research is based on the theoretical framework of Meaningful Learning and Kuutti's framework as a methodological framework. This is methodological research, approved by the Ethics Committee, carried out between May 2019 and March 2020, in a public HEI in the state of São Paulo. The study was carried out in two stages. In stage 1, the serious game was developed by a specialized team, following all stages of the framework. Stage 2 focused on evaluating the appearance and usability of the serious game "Comunica-Enf", carried out by 13 nurse teachers and 30 nursing students, who completed the Heuristic Evaluation for Digital Educational Games (HEDEG) instrument. HEDEG uses scores from 0 to 4 according to the absence (0) and presence of possible problems (1 to 4, with 4 being an urgent priority problem).

Results:
The serious game was considered validated if it had at least 75% absence of errors of types 3, 4 in the entire game and less than 25% of errors of types 3, 4, by heuristics. In stage 1, the serious game was developed by the team of researchers in partnership with the technical team to propose an interactive, attractive and innovative game, using technological and immersive resources, such as virtual reality glasses. In stage 2, the game was considered validated because no item reached more than 25% of type 3 and 4 problems in the entire game and by heuristics.

Conclusion:
We conclude that the game Comunica-Enf is a technology validated by experts for use with nursing students, as it offers new teaching strategies, providing a safe and pleasant environment. There is a need for investigations based on the application of the Comunica-Enf serious game to evaluate emotions and acquired learning, remembering that technology is an adjunct to the teaching-learning process, safeguarding the relevance of face-to-face interaction as extremely necessary for the formation of nurses.

Keywords:

Communication, Virtual Reality, Education Nursing, Students, Nursing