For 3 months, the Saint-Lô hospital, in Manche, has acquired 8 virtual reality headsets. Objective: to immerse patients in a relaxing world before, during or after certain painful gestures (biopsy, lumbar puncture, catheter placement…) Depending on their desire, patients immerse themselves in an underwater world, in space or more simply in nature. Virtual 3D trips that have the effect of relaxing them and reducing their stress.
Less pain medication
“Seeing a patient calmed down and feeling less pain also allows caregivers to work more serenely” explains Nathalie Bisson, senior health manager at the woman-child surgery center of the Saint-Lô Memorial Hospital.
“It’s neither quite hypnosis, nor quite sophrology, it’s a bit of both” she adds.
This moment of immersive relaxation also makes it possible to alleviate the intake of painkillers, thus reducing their side effects. Immersed in worlds that promote the mobilization of positive emotions, patients indeed feel a sense of well-being that reduces post-operative pain often accentuated by anxiety. After the operation, virtual reality also makes it possible to “boost” the healing process, thus reducing the length of stay in the hospital.
Nurses in Saint-Lô now hope to offer this technology to pregnant women: “to delay the installation epidural or even not to do an epidural if it allows you to better endure the pain of contractions “.
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