The Hospital Clínic Barcelona is committed to putting innovation at the service of its patients with the roll-out of SERENA-MENT, a project that incorporates virtual reality as a support tool during nursing care. The aim is to help reduce patients’ pain, anxiety and stress, while improving their care experience.
Through immersive virtual reality headsets, patients can visualize relaxing environments during certain procedures and treatments. This experience promotes cognitive distraction and helps them to temporarily escape the hospital environment, making the care process more comfortable.
Technology for more humane care
Therapeutic virtual reality is a non-pharmacological intervention that has growing scientific evidence as a complement to conventional treatments for reducing the perception of pain and anxiety. Several international hospitals have already incorporated it in areas such as burns units or paediatrics.
In the case of SERENA-MENT, the project focuses specifically on complex wound care, a situation that often involves physical discomfort and a high emotional burden for patients. The initiative aims to offer a complementary alternative that helps to make this treatment more tolerable and to reinforce person-centred care.
“We wanted to find new ways to support patients during moments that often cause pain or anxiety. In this sense, technology can help us provide more humane and person-centred care,” says Patricia Vilares Marrondo, nursing coordinator of unit 5-4 of General and Digestive Surgery and the driving force behind the project.
An initiative recognized at the Campus Clínic Innova Awards
SERENA-MENT was the winner in the “Millorem el Clínic” (“Improving the Clínic”) 2025 category, as part of the Campus Clínic Innova initiative, which promotes innovative projects aimed at improving patient care and healthcare quality. The award, worth 5,000 euros, has made it possible to acquire the necessary resources to begin implementing the project in the General and Digestive Surgery Unit at the Clínic.
Currently, the unit has two virtual reality headsets and around 20 people have already been able to benefit from this experience. Both patients and staff have valued the initiative very positively Both patients and staff have valued the initiative very positively. Among the sensations most frequently mentioned by users are concepts such as “relaxation”, “calm”, “escape” and “well-being”
According to Carolina Parés, the lead nurse for complex wounds, “the initial experiences show that patients feel calmer and more comfortable during dressings. This feedback encourages us to continue moving forwards and to rigorously evaluate the impact of virtual reality.”
Evaluating the impact of to keep moving forward
The project recently received approval from the Ethics Committee for Research with Medicinal Products (CEIm), allowing a new phase of deployment and systematic data collection to begin, in order to evaluate the impact of virtual reality on patients’ pain, anxiety and well-being.
The study will analyse various clinical and experience indicators from both patients and professionals, with the aim of generating evidence to facilitate the incorporation of this technology into routine care.
With SERENA-MENT, the Clínic continues to explore new forms of innovation that contribute to humanizing care and improving the patient experience, demonstrating that technology can also be a tool for companionship, care, and promoting well-being.
Nursing and engineering, an alliance for innovation
Behind SERENA-MENT, is a joint effort between the nursing team and the Directorate of Infrastructures and Biomedical Engineering, with the support of the Directorate of Research and Innovation. The need to reduce anxiety and improve the patient experience during care was identified by the clinical staff, while the engineering team explore and adapted the various available technological solutions until they found the one that best suited the project’s needs.
“No one can identify patients’ needs more directly that the nursing teams. From an engineering perspective, we transform these needs into solutions that ultimately reach the patient and improve their experience,” highlights Gerard Trias, a biomedical engineer at the Clínic. This interdisciplinary collaboration drives more innovative, sustainable and person-centred care.
