Therapeutic play in pediatric nursing: a bibliometric map of a persistent core and diversifying research fronts

To map research performance, collaboration structure, intellectual foundations, conceptual themes, research fronts, and recent thematic signals of therapeutic play research in pediatric nursing using Scopus data.

A descriptive bibliometric analysis used a final Scopus search on 27 August 2026. After eligibility screening and removal of one duplicate/versioned record, 145 unique articles and reviews published from 1974 to 2026 were analyzed. Performance indicators and VOSviewer 1.6.21 were used to examine collaboration, cited-reference co-citation, keyword co-occurrence, and document bibliographic coupling. A post-hoc descriptive analysis compared keyword prevalence across three periods.

The corpus comprised 145 publications, including 71 (49.0%) published during 2020-2026; the 2026 count was partial. Institutional and country collaboration showed limited connectivity. Intellectual and conceptual structures remained centered on therapeutic play, pediatric nursing, perioperative preparation, coping, and psychosocial adaptation. Bibliographic coupling identified eight research fronts spanning procedural, family-related, educational, self-management, professional, implementation, and nursing-application domains. Therapeutic play remained a persistent core. Fear and pain showed the clearest recent thematic intensification, whereas anxiety was already established.

Therapeutic-play research in pediatric nursing shows continuity alongside diversification around a persistent core.

This map can help pediatric nurses and researchers identify established and developing research areas, prioritize cross-setting and implementation research, and distinguish bibliographic prominence from evidence of clinical effectiveness.