43 NURSING PAIN ASSESSMENT & MANAGEMENT: A 3D INTERACTIVE SIMULATION Enilda Romero-Hall, University of Tampa, Ginger S. Watson, Old Dominion University, Yiannis Papelis & Hector Garcia,Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center In this design case, a team developed a 3D interactive sim- ulation for nursing students and professional nurses to train and practice pain assessment and management procedures. In the simulation environment, the trainees interact with three emotionally expressive animated patients. The three patients vary in their ethnicity, age, and emotion intensity. Successful completion of the scenario requires that the trainee perform of a series of pain assessment and manage- ment tasks. The trainee is evaluated on the efficiency and appropriate sequencing of the tasks. The purpose of this paper is to describe the decisions made regarding the type of virtual patients used, the clickable objects, the pain assessment interview protocol, the visual representations in the simulation and the web portal. The paper also provides insight into the processes and steps taken during the design and development phases of this 3D interactive simulation including: the tasks analyses, motion capture, validation of the animations in the simulation, programming, and other tasks. Enilda Romero-Hall is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Design and Technology at the University of Tampa. Her research interests include: multimedia instruction, emotion in learning, human-computer interaction, and distance/online education. She obtained her Ph.D. from Old Dominion University. Ginger S. Watson obtained her Ph.D. in Instructional Design & Technology from the University of Iowa. She currently holds the title of Associate Professor at Old Dominion University where she is also appointed as research faculty to the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC). Yiannis Papelis is a Research Professor at Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC). He is currently conducting research on autonomous agent modeling issues as applied to a wide range of topics, including simulation of critical infrastructure components, realistic simulation of crowds, and control of autonomous ground and aerial vehicles. Hector Garcia is a Senior Project Scientist and visualization laboratory manager at Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC). INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of designing and developing a 3D interactive simulation. This simulation was intended for research purposes, to under- stand the differences in pain assessment and management practices between novice nursing students and professional nurses when interacting with a 3D interactive simulation. The design and development goals for the project included: FRONT-END (USER INTERFACE) • To design and develop a 3D interactive interface with ease of use and a visually appealing look. • To have realistic virtual patients with human-like move- ment, voices, and facial expressions of emotion. • To create a realistic hospital environment, including a detailed patient room and hospital hallway. • To provide a realistic nursing scenario, including ad- equate nursing documentation and patient medical records. • To re-create a realistic interaction between the nurse (trainee) and the virtual patient, including credible nurse-patient dialogue. BACK-END (PROGRAMMING) • To program an interactive point-and-click system for the objects in the patient room. • To program an interactive interview between the trainee and virtual patient. • To program the virtual patient with emotion-like animations. Copyright © 2014 by the International Journal of Designs for Learning, a publication of the Association of Educational Communications and Technology. (AECT). Permission to make digital or hard copies of portions of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page in print or the first screen in digital media. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than IJDL or AECT must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. 2014 | Volume 5, Issue 1 | Pages 43-56