10033687MetaNurse - Mixed Reality Simulation for Nursing TrainingClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKIn June 2021 there were 93,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS, 23% more than the previous year. In the last 5 years nurse numbers from the EU have fallen 90% and 36% of UK nurses stated they are considering leaving the profession. This is a global problem, with insufficient newly qualified staff and issues with staff retention meaning there will be a global shortage of 11m nurses by 2030\. It takes three years to train a nurse in the UK and costs up to £70,000\. Around 17,000 new nurses qualify each year meaning it will take many years before this shortfall is addressed. The government has pledged an additional 50,000 nurses by 2025 yet this drive for more home-grown means demand outstrips capacity, a problem exacerbated by restrictions under covid, limiting access to high-quality training facilities. Simulations of procedures are an important element of training which enable students to learn by doing, practising with real equipment in a safe environment. Patient mannequins are conventionally used but these are low-fidelity, expensive and do not allow for remote training. Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly being used in nurse training, using digital, audio-visual content to create immersive learning environments. These can be used remotely yet do not use all the senses or provide the hands-on, tactile feedback needed to develop the 'muscle memory', so important in emergency procedures where the correct use of equipment and techniques must be second nature. MetaNurse will address this by using mixed reality to simulate clinical procedures. Mixed Reality (MR) combines VR with real-world objects, using direct hand tracking to enable simultaneous interaction with tactile feedback. This project will improve on the state-of-the art by improving real/virtual world registration, hand and object tracking to create a simulation that is as close to real life as possible. This core technology will be wrapped in a training programme developed with a leading UK nursing school and evaluated with both instructors and students.