Standardized patient simulation in nursing education: A bibliometric analysis and visualization from 2002 to 2024

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education Research
• Simulation-Based Learning

Background:

• Standardized patient (SP) simulation provides nursing students direct engagement with interventions and practices.
• SP simulation is an established active learning methodology in nursing education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a bibliometric analysis of the literature on standardized patient simulation in nursing education.
• To identify trends, key publications, and influential authors in this research area.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric and content analysis of 310 publications from the Web of Science database (2002-2024).
• VOSviewer software was utilized for bibliometric data mapping and visualization.

Main Results:

• The analysis identified 198 publications between 2002 and 2024, accumulating 3042 citations.
• 'Nurse Education Today' published the most papers. Author Elcin received the most citations.
• Key terms included 'simulation', 'nursing education', 'standardized patient', and 'nursing students'.

Conclusions:

• There is a significant recent increase in studies evaluating standardized patient simulators in nursing education.
• Findings offer insights for researchers and faculty on the value and applications of standardized patient simulation.
• This research highlights the growing importance of simulation in enhancing nursing education.