Improving student interview skills: the virtual avatar as client.

Second Life (SL) virtual environment was used by nursing students to develop beginning interview skills for urological, genital, and sexual subjective assessments. Multigenerational, multicultural client scenarios were used as students collected data in the virtual environment. Videotaped interviews of community volunteers demonstrated an increased number of questions asked in these sensitive areas following the implementation of virtual experiences. Curriculum implication and student evaluations of the SL experience are shared.