Effect of Virtual Reality on Perceived Stress in Neonatal Intensive Care Staff

Participants will be exposed to either virtual relaxation (VR) in the first period, followed by no VR in the second treatment period, or no VR in the first period, followed by VR in the second period. The participant shall be directed to the respective rooms labelled as intervention or control by a facilitator depending on the allocation. Participants in the VR immersion (intervention group) will wear the VR headset (Meta Quest 2) and choose one of the following apps: scenic walk, meditation with relaxing music or physical activity (eg: virtual tennis) based on their preferences in a specific room allocated for the study. Considering the short break times during high acuity workload, the participants will experience VR relaxation for 10 minutes per session; and only one session for the duration of their shift. They will be eligible to receive a maximum of 3 sessions per week over the intervention period of 2 weeks. Participants in the control group will have routine breaks without the VR experience. The enrolled participants will undergo a washout period of two weeks during which they will not be assessed for their stress levels. As part of the crossover design, the participants in the intervention arm shall then be switched over to the control arm and those in the control arm shall then switch over to the intervention arm. They will then be assessed for stress using the same scales and time points as specified for the same shift pattern as in the previous arm.