title: Improving student interview skills: the virtual avatar as client.
abstract: Second Life (SL) virtual environment was used by nursing students to develop beginning interview skills for urological, genital, and sexual subjective assessments. Multigenerational, multicultural client scenarios were used as students collected data in the virtual environment. Videotaped interviews of community volunteers demonstrated an increased number of questions asked in these sensitive areas following the implementation of virtual experiences. Curriculum implication and student evaluations of the SL experience are shared.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 47306, USA. lisweigart@bsu.edu
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sweigart
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hodson-Carlton
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D016544:Patient Simulation; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface