Virtual reality in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education:A scoping review integrating data mining for topic discovery

• VR use in nursing education expanded rapidly after 2020. • Shift from procedural skills to holistic, learner-centered training. • Most studies from high-income and Asian contexts show global imbalance. • Immersive HMD-based VR dominates, with emerging hybrid XR systems. • Field needs standardized outcomes and theory-driven integration. To map and critically analyze the evolution, scope, and characteristics of virtual reality (VR) applications in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education. Scoping review, reported following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase were systematically searched up to April 2025, complemented by Google Scholar and reference screening. Eligible records were screened independently by two reviewers. Data were extracted across study characteristics, educational contexts, technologies, and outcomes. Narrative synthesis was combined with lexicometric and topic-modeling analyses to identify thematic and temporal trends. A total of 169 studies (2010–2025) were included. Publications increased sharply after 2020, shifting from procedural training toward learner-centered and competence-based education. Immersive VR via head-mounted displays was the most prevalent (70.4%), spanning from cardiopulmonary resuscitation to soft skills. Meta-analysis overlap was low, indicating methodological heterogeneity. Six major themes were identified, reflecting a transition toward holistic, reflective, and experiential learning frameworks. VR in nursing education has matured conceptually but remains fragmented. Standardized outcomes, theory-driven frameworks, and equitable global adoption are needed to maximize its pedagogical potential.