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Effectiveness of virtual reality in nursing education: a systematic review and meta-analysis
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the transformative potential of Virtual Reality (VR) has shown significant potential in transforming nursing education by providing immersive and interactive learning experiences. Our objective is to systematically evaluate and conduct a meta-analysizes on the impact effect of virtual reality technology in teaching nursing students. METHODS: To achieve this, we conducted comprehensive computer searches on platforms including of PubMed, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, Zhiwang database, Wanfang database, and China Biomedical Literature Service (SinoMed), were conducted to collect randomized controlled trial studies on the use of virtual reality's technology for teaching nursing students built up to until March 2023., and the Cochrane Furthermore, the quality of the included literature was assessed evaluated using the quality evaluation criteria specified for randomized controlled trial studies within the Cochrane provided in the evaluation handbook manual. In addition, a meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3 software. RESULTS: The aggregate outcomes from a total of 12 randomized controlled trials, encompassing including 1167 students, indicate were included. Meta-analysis results showed that virtual reality technology significantly enhances could better improve nursing students'' theoretical knowledge [(SMD = 0.97, 95% CI [0.48, 1.46], p < 0.001)], practical skills (SMD = 0.52, 95% CI [0.33, 1.46], p < 0.001), skill retention, (SMD = 0.52, 95% CI [0.33, 0.71], p < 0.001), and satisfaction levels (SMD = 1.14, 95% CI [0.85, 1.43], p < 0.001), in comparison with traditional or alternative teaching methodologies. However, no statistically significant impact was observed on the enhancement of critical thinking skills (SMD = 0.79, 95% CI [-0.05, 1.64], p = 0.07) among nursing students. CONCLUSION: Our findings underscore that compared to conventional teaching methods, virtual reality offers superior potential in advancing nursing students' theoretical knowledge, practice proficiencies, and overall satisfaction, while not yielding a significant advantage in enhancing critical thinking skills. The incorporated literature consisted exclusively of randomized controlled trials, albeit a subset of these studies omitted descriptions of the allocation concealment strategy.
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“First, many studies on AI in education rely on observational designs or short-term interventions, lacking rigorous experimental evidence such as randomized controlled trials [18].”
From Effectiveness of a generative AI-powered digital tutor integrated with a knowledge graph in anatomy education for nursing students: a randomized controlled trial (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Park, S., Shin, H. J., Kwak, H., & Lee, H. J. (2024) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/57566 · Cited by 75
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Metadata
- Authors
- Liu, K., Zhang, W., Li, W., Wang, T., & Zheng, Y.
- Affiliations
- Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zheng, Yanxue
- Venue
- BMC Medical Education
- Published
- 2023-09-28
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 710-710
- ISSN
- 1472-6920 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10540340
- OpenAlex
- W4387134077
- Cited by
- 284
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 130 · 2025: 104 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 10.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Medical Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Jining Medical University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Surgical Simulation and Training
- Keywords
- virtual reality, nursing education, nursing students, theoretical knowledge, practical skills, skill retention, student satisfaction, critical thinking skills, immersive learning
- MeSH terms
- Simulation Training, Virtual Reality, Education, Nursing, Humans, Students, Students, Nursing, Thinking, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
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