“Can you hear me now?” Evaluating Virtual Interpreted Healthcare Simulations

In this paper, we evaluate virtual healthcare simulations with undergraduate American Sign Language/ English interpreting students and undergraduate nursing students. To evaluate this educational innovation, we conducted a focus group interview with key stakeholders – undergraduate nursing and interpreting students, graduate interpreting student mentors, and deaf standardized patients – who participated in the simulations. The focus group data were thematically analyzed, which allowed for an evaluation of instructional effectiveness and identification of areas for quality improvement in future iterations. Taken together, the findings suggest that virtual simulations offer students a powerful experiential learning experience and the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in novel ways to develop soft skills necessary in a practice profession.