The goal of the project is the direct and needs-based use of XR technologies to enhance the well-being of patients throughout the University Hospital Essen. At its core is the introduction of specially trained XR Advanced Nurses, who actively apply XR applications with patients – as targeted interventions to improve well-being and the patient experience in everyday clinical practice.
The XR Advanced Nurses work with patients individually and interactively: on intensive and general care units to support emotional stability and social connectedness, in pain therapy to provide distraction and reduce anxiety, or during aftercare following stressful interventions or prolonged isolation to support cognitive and emotional reactivation. This offering is designed to be patient-centered, low-threshold, and resource-efficient. Applications are curated, continuously evaluated, and selected according to individual needs.
In parallel, workflows, technical standards, and training concepts are being developed to enable sustainable integration into existing care structures within UME and beyond.
The project takes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach and aims to establish XR as a long-term therapeutic tool in clinical care. It thereby contributes to the patient-centered advancement of University Medicine Essen as a Smart and Human Hospital.
Partners
Directorate of Nursing
Funding
Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen
