A scoping review of the applications of augmented reality in nursing

Augmented reality (AR) can provide rich interactive experiences by integrating virtual information with the real environment, showing great potential in healthcare, especially in nursing. However, the current applications and effectiveness of AR in nursing have not been comprehensively summarized. This scoping review aims to identify existing studies on the applications of AR in nursing and evaluate its effectiveness across different domains.

A scoping review was performed following the Arksey and O'Malley framework. A systematic literature search was conducted from the database inception to December 2024 in the following nine electronic databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, China Biomedical Database, PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature(CINAHL). Two researchers independently conducted the literature search, selection, and data extraction.

The preliminary literature search yielded 4158 articles, and 41 studies were included in the final analysis. Head-mounted displays were the most popular AR devices (n = 20). AR applications in nursing were categorized into three primary domains: nursing education, clinical nursing, and tele-nursing. Among these, 66% (27/41) of the studies explored application scenarios of AR in nursing education. Several studies included demonstrated that AR could significantly enhance participants' theoretical knowledge, critical thinking skills, self-confidence, and learning motivation (P < 0.05). It had also shown positive effects on improving patient rehabilitation exercises, alleviating preoperative anxiety, improving social behaviour of children with autism, and facilitating remote visits and guidance (P < 0.05). Participants consistently thought the AR intervention was feasible, showing a high satisfaction rate. Finally, AR remains controversial in terms of skill performance and self-regulated learning ability. Due to methodological limitations, some studies did not identify the effects of AR.

These findings show that AR has positive applications in nursing education, clinical nursing, and remote nursing, with broad satisfaction, acceptability, and feasibility, especially in nursing education. However, existing studies remain controversial. Future studies should focus on high-quality randomized controlled trials, standardized evaluation indicators, and long-term evaluations to strengthen the evidence base for AR applications in nursing.