Shift created VR training programs that allow healthcare workers to practice with new sanitization standards and patient interaction protocol in a two- and three-dimensional training environment. VR training includes virtual practice for managing personal protective equipment (PPE), what to do when encountering a contagious patient, how to handle triage scenarios, and more.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Shift stood in a unique position to offer needed training to healthcare providers without wasting precious PPE materials. More than an innovative, and cost-effective avenue to asynchronously train new hires, Shift’s VR solution allowed for an effective ‘socially-distanced’ way to onboard new workers.
“We need to create a training where geography is not a barrier, financial issues are not a barrier, time is not a barrier. A lack of PPE resources will not be a barrier because it’s all in VR.” – Wendy Morgan, CEO and Founder
US Ignite in partnership with NSF awarded the funding needed to enable Shift to offer the VR training for healthcare professionals fighting COVID-19 at no cost to the host organizations. As a result of this funding, Shift has offered VR Trainings and documented protocols for training and safety for donning and doffing of PPE, social distancing, surface cleaning, hand hygiene, and safe and compassionate caregiving.
Over the course of the grant period, Shift forged partnerships with three hospital systems, two community colleges and a government entity as well as several Oregon nonprofits to deliver VR trainings to their healthcare workers. Providing these trainings allowed Shift to build and expand relationships with the healthcare industry, and as a result, garner interest for other Shift trainings like the VR augmented course on health equity or understanding belonging. Moreover, The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, the second largest nursing organization in the world, partnered with Shift to co-develop a branded course to fulfill nursing continuing professional development credits.
Despite the setbacks generated by COVID, Shift’s VR training program helped new hires gain competency at an accelerated rate by learning in the “same” environment they were set to work in. US Ignite is proud of the outcomes that Shift has delivered and is excited to see what other important work they accomplish.
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