The Effects of Contextual-Based Augmented Reality Facilitated Education in Promoting Oral Mucositis Care Among Nurses

In recent years, cancer has become one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with an increasing number of people being diagnosed with the disease. Current cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT), concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). While these treatments have improved survival rates for many patients, they often lead to adverse side effects, one of the most common being oral mucositis (OM). Oral mucositis in cancer patients differs from general types of oral ulcers, primarily caused by the toxicity of chemotherapy drugs and radiation therapy, leading to extensive damage to epithelial cells. This study aims to validate the effectiveness of "situational augmented reality-assisted instruction" in an educational intervention program for oral mucositis care in enhancing nursing personnel's knowledge of oral mucositis care, oral mucositis care abilities, clinical reasoning skills, and learning engagement. A randomized clinical trial (RCT) was conducted using convenience sampling, targeting nursing personnel from cancer-related units at a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. A follow-up study with repeated measures in two groups was performed. Self-developed scales based on relevant literature and expert recommendations were used to assess knowledge of oral mucositis care and self-evaluated oral mucositis care abilities. Additionally, the Clinical Reasoning Scale (CRS) by Huang et al. (2023) and the Learning Engagement Scale revised by Chiu (2020) were employed as research tools. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 29.0, with descriptive statistics including frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results of this study will provide relevant institutions and educational training units with references for the content and assessment of oral mucositis care courses for cancer nursing personnel, and further applications of the research findings.