Metaverse-Based Learning for Nursing Students’ Education: Dream or Reality? A Scoping Review

Background: The metaverse can generally be defined as an interconnected virtual 3D environment where people across the world can come together to share social experiences, through the use of immersive technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. It is often described as a hypothetical platform that provides various immersive experiences with tangible interactions in an extended virtual space, allowing humans to interact through avatars. In nursing education, the metaverse allows students to effectively practice in a safe learning environment, and through avatars to enhance interactivity and immersion and maintain anonymity in space. Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a scoping review on the metaverse applied to nursing education and how this experience was evaluated. Methods: A comprehensive electronic search of five electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Scopus) was conducted from their inception to March 2024. Results: Six studies met the inclusion criteria and were considered in this review. Conclusion: These studies encourage the use of metaverse platforms for nursing education, but further research is necessary to explore the advantages of this platforms as learning method in nursing education and to better understand their learning effectiveness and efficacy in terms of learning outcomes.