How Sterling Communications raised the profile of the UbiSim virtual reality platform for nurse training
Montreal-based UbiSim is the leading immersive virtual reality (VR) training platform dedicated specifically to nursing. The startup was founded in 2016 but acquired in 2021 by Labster, an edtech pioneer in virtual science lab simulations. UbiSim enables faculty to customize and design simulations curated for their students’ learning objectives that align with Next Generation NCLEX (nursing) test curriculum.
An obvious solution to a pressing need
While the nursing shortage in the U.S. is widely acknowledged, what’s less known is that the shortage is not so much due to a lack of applicants, but “insufficient clinical placement sites, faculty, preceptors, and classroom space,” according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. UbiSim partners with 100-plus nursing institutions and hospitals in North America and Europe to advance the shared mission of addressing the nursing shortage by reducing the cost, time, and logistical challenges of traditional simulation methods and scaling high-quality nursing education.
The UbiSim team recognized the appropriateness of its virtual reality solution to address this gap in training resources and decided to ramp up visibility for the UbiSim product in the post-pandemic era. Since Sterling Communications was already working with Labster to promote its virtual lab simulations for higher education STEM courses, it was a logical step for Sterling to undertake a limited set of public relations activities for the UbiSim product as well, focusing primarily on creating thought leadership content for contributed articles and industry media commentary.
Tapping resources efficiently
The expert brainstorming session is a foundational activity for developing thought leadership content. Sterling held a free-flowing discussion with several UbiSim marketing leaders to identify appropriate topics for contributed articles. The fruit of this single discussion? Six bylines (and counting). Combining the ideas from this session with existing content developed by the UbiSim blog team, Sterling collaborated with the UbiSim lead nurse educator to produce articles on topics such as: addressing myths around the use of VR; VR helping nurse educators provide more training opportunities for nurse learners; VR allowing nurse learners to practice and polish clinical judgment skills; VR for practicing therapeutic communication; VR for improving nursing collaboration and teamwork; and other topics showcasing the benefits of virtual reality in nursing education. The repurposing of existing content and the efficient use of an expert spokesperson’s time is a Sterling quality.
Promoting owned research
UbiSim enjoys a large community of enthusiastic users. When the marketing team decided to conduct a survey on headset-based VR and specifically the UbiSim product, they were delighted to secure nearly 1,300 responses. With Sterling’s advice, the team extracted statistically valid non-promotional data points for Sterling to craft two separate announcements, one reflecting the attitudes of nurse learners and the other the concerns of nursing instructors. Sterling then repurposed the data points from the two press releases in multiple bylined articles published in MedCity News.
PR funneling customers
The public relations function doesn’t usually link directly to the creation of business leads, but it can support them. The Sterling team closely monitored news coverage related to nursing colleges and their use of simulation, which can take multiple forms. If the simulation appeared to involve only traditional manikins or standardized patient actors but not emerging immersive technology options, Sterling flagged the nursing college and a primary simulation contact to the UbiSim business development team for further exploration (after cross-checking against the current list of UbiSim customer installations]. At other times, Sterling noted nursing colleges on the receiving end of government or philanthropic grants to fund new technology adoption as potential targets for outreach.
- “I ran across this article today with a potential contact for your biz dev team. VR is only mentioned one time in this article, and the photos don’t look as if the simulation is with an immersive headset. It looks as if they use manikins and 2D screens. Maybe they’d be interested in an upgrade.”
- “The University at [name redacted] School of Nursing has received a NEW federal grant for VR education and the article says it’s the first time they’ll be incorporating VR into the nursing curriculum. Their director of simulation [name redacted] and their dean [name redacted] have both talked previously about wanting to incorporate more VR and simulation to address their shortage of clinical placements and supervisors (see 2 older articles pasted below). It’s not clear that they have a vendor yet.”
Within six months of commencing Sterling’s engagement with UbiSim, at least one of the suggested business leads, a large university ranked #1 for its online nursing program, was ushered through to closing and even agreed to a case study for the UbiSim website!
The Results
In less than nine months, Sterling established the UbiSim lead nurse educator as a regular contributor to the MedCity News influencer program with five bylines published. Even more impressive, another byline ended up as a cover story for Hospital News!
Several health-focused publications such as Healthcare IT Today have included commentary from UbiSim experts in their articles on health technology, with Health Tech World running an extended product profile.
Sterling also initiated an awards program for the UbiSim product, securing three wins and a finalist placement. Considering the urgent training need addressed by the UbiSim product, there are certainly more trophies to come!
