Virtual reality to relax health care staff

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 health crisis, healthcare professionals have been under considerable daily pressure. Material and human insufficiency, management of the patients influx, intensive care saturation… How to relax between two interventions, in such a stressful environment? Virtual reality could relax health care staff! Indeed, virtual reality headsets would be a relaxing break in the frantic daily life of the health care teams. 

 

 

To relax health care staff in the hospital

Hospital: a stressful place

We all know it: the period of Covid-19 health crisis is particularly hard for doctors, nurses, nurses’ aides, anesthetists and surgeons. They must deal with stressful and exhausting working conditions: understaffed health care teams, lack of equipment, excess patient mortality… Health care professionals invest a lot of energy and effort on a daily basis, in order to be able to take care of and manage the flow of patients as well as possible. 

Even outside of a health crisis, the pressure and mental workload remain high for these healthcare professionals, whatever the medical or paramedical service concerned: pediatrics, gynecology, oncology, palliative care, outpatient surgery, emergency, anesthesia and intensive care… As a result: burnout, bad mood, and possible psychological damage for medical teams.

Therefore, how to relax quickly between two operations? How can we reduce the stress and tiredness of health care teams? Therapeutic virtual reality headsets can help! Based on 3D immersion in virtual environments, virtual headsets contribute to a fast relaxation of healthcare teams. 

 

 

Virtual reality to relax health care teams

Some hospital groups have already integrated such relaxation tools within their department or care unit. This is for example the case of EpiCURA, located in the Mons-Borinage and Ath region in Belgium, which offers a wellness area for its nursing staff. This dedicated space, entirely focused on physical and mental relaxation, provides to health care staff several tools and services, such as massages and Healthy Mind virtual reality tools. 

Through virtual relaxation sessions, virtual tools are beneficial for health care teams, as well as for the hospital establishment, because they are: 

• a quick relaxation for health care staff;
• the disconnection from the work environment, thanks to a short immersion lasting between ten and twenty minutes;
• a way for the hospital group to reward its healthcare teams for their efforts and involvement;
• the tool can also be used for the well-being of patients before, during or after an anxiety-provoking and/or painful medical procedure. 

To achieve such results, the Healthy Mind virtual reality medical device is based on several elements: 

• The immersion in relaxing 3D virtual environments. 
• Relaxing music.
• High quality graphic, ultra-realistic images. The user can also choose to escape into one of the following worlds: the “zen garden”, the “forest”, the “snowy mountain”, the “sunny beach”, or the “underwater”.
• The medical hypnosis: verbal support, relaxation and breathing exercises.
  
  

Virtual reality to relax patients and employees 

Virtual reality tools for patients in hospital 

The double benefit of virtual reality headsets is that they can be used by both health care teams and patients. Indeed, Healthy Mind therapeutic virtual reality headsets are given to patients to distract them from pain of pre-operative, surgical or medical care procedure: dressing changes, catheters insertion or removal…

The advantages of therapeutic virtual reality for the patient are numerous: 

• reduction of pre-operative stress and fear;
• reduction in the use of medicinal analgesics and anxiolytics;
• less side effects related to pharmacological injections (nausea, post-operative recovery difficulties, etc.).

The well-being of employees in the workplace

As virtual reality can be used by health care staff in hospital, it can also be used by employees in companies. Some companies already offer relaxation sessions to their employees during their breaks: seated massages, yoga classes, pilates, sophrology… 

So why not using virtual reality tools? This is the choice made by Saint-Gobain, located in La Défense. This company, specialized in the production, transformation and distribution of materials, makes Healthy Mind virtual reality headsets available to its employees. The benefits of therapeutic virtual reality are already visible! 

Indeed, the use of Healthy Mind virtual reality headsets by company employees has several advantages: 

• the improvement of the quality of working life (QWL) and the well-being of employees ;
• a better prevention of psychosocial risks linked work-related-stress (heavy workload…) ;
• an increase in the productivity of employees, who are more efficient and motivated. 

While virtual reality is increasingly used for the well-being of patients, it can also benefit hospital employees, as well as those in all sectors. Indeed, as therapeutic virtual reality contributes to reducing stress and pain of patients before or during a surgical procedure, it can also relax employees from stressful work conditions.

This is particularly the case for some health care staff who benefit from quick relaxation breaks thanks to our Healthy Mind therapeutic virtual reality headsets. Available to medical teams in some hospitals, our VR headsets provide express relaxation through relaxing virtual environments and hypnotic exercises. Would you like to integrate our Healthy Mind virtual reality tools in your hospital group or in your company? Discover our tools, or get a demonstration of our virtual reality Healthy Mind software!