Design thinking in nursing education: A scoping review

To explore the current evidence of how design thinking is applied in nursing education.

Design thinking has emerged as a transformative pedagogical approach in higher education, recognized for its ability to foster creativity and innovative teaching methodologies. While research on design thinking in nursing education has garnered increasing attention, a comprehensive scoping review has yet to be conducted.

This scoping review adhered to the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for evidence synthesis and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) checklist. A comprehensive search strategy was implemented using PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Scopus databases. The reference lists of included studies underwent manual examination to capture additional relevant studies.

This scoping review followed the five-stage methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley, including: (1) identifying the research question, (2) conducting a comprehensive search for relevant literature, (3) selecting eligible studies, (4) charting and analysing the data and (5) summarizing and reporting the findings.

The results reveal an increasing number of studies about design thinking in nursing education, with 47 studies selected from 14,705 records during the search. Various research designs were used and a 5-stage framework of design thinking was identified.

This scoping review explored current evidence on how design thinking is applied in nursing education, fulfilling its aim to map the scope and characteristics across diverse academic and professional contexts. These findings will inform understanding for future nursing education.