Principal Findings
sepsis
SEPSIS
To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to evaluate the effectiveness of AI-powered VRS by comparing it with human-controlled VRS. This randomized controlled trial study did not demonstrate any significant differences in sepsis performance and interprofessional communication performance between participants in the AI-powered and human-controlled groups. However, we found significant differences in sepsis care knowledge and communication self-efficacy between the 2 groups. Although the AI-powered group obtained significantly higher sepsis care knowledge scores than the human-controlled group, the human-controlled group reported significantly higher self-efficacy in interprofessional communication than in the AI-powered group. The underlying learning principles and theories that guided the use of AI and human-controlled VRS could be applied to explain these findings.The simulation-based assessment performance outcomes did not reveal inferiority of AI-powered VRS regarding either sepsis care or communication skills performance when compared with human-controlled VRS. Despite the different medical team virtual player agents, both VRS approaches offered experiential learning and cognitive tools that allowed the nursing students to practice the assessment and management of sepsis and team communication skills through role playing and reflection. An earlier study demonstrated the need for both cognitive tools and experiential learning modalities to support the development of a shared mental model and optimal teamwork delivery [Interestingly, our findings demonstrated that the AI-powered group had significantly higher sepsis knowledge scores than the human-controlled group. This finding supported our earlier qualitative data in which the AI-powered doctor was perceived by the nursing students as a more knowledgeable agent than the doctor agent controlled by medical students [Although no significant difference was noted regarding interprofessional communication performance, the human-controlled group reported a significantly higher level of self-efficacy for interprofessional communication than in the AI-powered group. Unlike AI-powered groups, participants in the human-controlled group were given the opportunity to engage in social interactions among learners through role playing and debriefing. The theory of social constructivism has emphasized the importance of learning from social interaction [The lack of substantial differences in performance between AI and human-controlled VRS highlighted the potential role of AI-powered VRS in supporting nursing students with interprofessional training, particularly in circumstances when the accessibility and availability of medical students are lacking. In addition, variations in learning outcomes between the groups suggested the benefits of combining the different simulation modalities to provide an optimal learning approach. Our previous study recommended the use of scaffolding for the instructional sequence of interprofessional learning activities within blended learning environments [