Advancements in digital technologies and the coronavirus disease pandemic have rapidly shifted educational practices towards engaging digital methods, such as serious games, significantly influencing healthcare education. Digital serious games enhance nursing education by effectively overcoming limitations such as limited training time and inadequate resources, thereby improving knowledge and skills. Few high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses were focused exclusively on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of digital serious games to determine their effects in nursing education. To evaluate the effects of digital serious games on nursing education through a systematic review and meta-analysis using the Kirkpatrick model to evaluate learning and behavioral changes. A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs was performed. Six databases were searched for articles published before April 2024. Risk of bias was assessed using the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized trials. A sensitivity analysis was performed. Outcome variables were categorized according to the Kirkpatrick model. Effect sizes were determined using Hedges’ g in a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis was performed. The quality appraisal results revealed that all the studies exhibited a low risk of bias across these domains. Eleven studies were included in the systematic review, and eight studies, in the meta-analysis. The intervention group showed significant improvements in knowledge (Hedges’ g = 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.27, 1.22], p = .002, I² = 90.51%), confidence (Hedges’ g = 0.73, 95% CI = [0.23, 1.24], p = .005, I² = 82.71%), and performance (Hedges’ g = 0.49, 95% CI = [0.17, 0.80], p = .003, I² = 56.60%). Subgroup analysis showed a significant improvement in knowledge when the intervention period exceeded 2 weeks (Hedges’ g = 0.53, 95% CI = [0.32, 0.74], p < .001, I² = 25.41%). This study demonstrates that digital serious games significantly enhance knowledge, performance, and confidence of nursing students, offering a valuable alternative to traditional methods and equipping them with essential clinical competencies. However, the observed high heterogeneity and limitations like brief intervention durations necessitate caution in result interpretation and highlight the need for further research to explore long-term effects and behavioral changes in nursing education.

Background: Critical reflection is an effective learning strategy that enhances clinical nurses’ reflective practice and professionalism. Therefore, training programs for nurse educators should be implemented so that critical reflection can be applied to nursing education. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a critical reflection competency program for clinical nurse educators on improving critical thinking disposition, nursing reflection competency, and teaching efficacy. Methods: A pilot study was conducted using a pre- and post-test control-group design. Participants were clinical nurse educators recruited using a convenience sampling method. The program was conducted once a week for 90 min, with a total of four sessions. The effectiveness of the developed program was verified by analyzing pre- and post-test results of 26 participants in the intervention group and 27 participants in the control group, respectively. The chi-square test, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and analysis of covariance with age as a covariate were conducted. Results: The critical thinking disposition and teaching efficacy of the intervention group improved after the program, and the differences between the control and intervention groups were statistically significant (F = 14.751, p < 0.001; F = 11.047, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the change in nursing reflection competency between the two groups (F = 2.674, p = 0.108). Conclusion: The critical reflection competency program was effective in improving the critical thinking disposition and teaching efficacy of nurse educators. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the developed program for nurse educators to effectively utilize critical reflection in nursing education.

Critical reflection develops nurses’ critical thinking and clinical reasoning competency. It is necessary to develop a validated scale to measure critical reflection competency considering the clinical situation and nursing context. Therefore, this study analyzed the concept of critical reflection, developed a scale to measure critical reflection competency, and verified its validity and reliability. The concept of critical reflection and components of the scale were confirmed through literature review and results of previous studies on content analysis. A total of 64 preliminary items were derived on a 5-point Likert scale. The adequacy of vocabulary and expression was checked, and a content validity test was conducted. An I-CVI value of 0.88–1.00 was computed. Construct validity was conducted through an exploratory factor analysis, and data collected from 296 clinical nurses were analyzed. Five factors and nineteen items were derived, and the explanatory power was found to be 53.02%. Cronbach’s α of the scale was 0.853. Future studies need to develop a critical reflection education program and utilize this concept as an educational strategy. We propose a study to verify the effect of applying an educational program using the critical reflection competency scale developed in this study.

The secondary traumatic stress (STS) of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients is expected to be high, and it can adversely affect patient care. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of STS of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients, and we identified various factors that influence STS. This study followed a descriptive design. The data of 136 nurses who had provided direct care to COVID-19 patients from 5 September to 26 September 2020 were collected online. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors influencing STS. Participants experienced moderate levels of STS. The regression model of Model 1 was statistically significant (F = 6.21, p < 0.001), and the significant factors influencing STS were the duration of care for patients with COVID-19 for more than 30 days (β = 0.28, p < 0.001) and working in an undesignated COVID-19 hospital (β = 0.21, p = 0.038). In Model 2, the factor influencing STS was the support of a friend in the category of social support (β = −0.21, p = 0.039). The nurses caring for COVID-19 patients are experiencing a persistent and moderate level of STS. This study can be used as basic data to treat and prevent STS.

This study aimed to identify the trends in scholarly research related to patient safety education programs and outcome evaluations in the field of nursing education, focusing on providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of patient safety education and suggesting directions for future program development and evaluation. We conducted a scoping review using Arksey and O’Malley’s 5-step framework and searched five databases; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), PubMed, Science Direct, and Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) for Korean literature. Of the 1626 articles retrieved, we identified 27 articles published between 2006 and 2023. The articles’ educational content focused on comprehensive patient safety education using instructional methods such as lectures, discussions, simulations, and online education. The effectiveness of the programs was evaluated primarily via knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward patient safety, and behavioral and results-related outcomes were rarely evaluated at Kirkpatrick’s evaluation., The most commonly used tools were the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey and the questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization Patient Safety Program. The evaluation was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods, but follow-up tests were rarely conducted. Our review findings suggest that patient safety education programs for nursing students and clinical nurses should apply diverse teaching methods and comprehensive evaluation strategies to enhance their overall effectiveness and ensure the practical application of safety practices. It is essential to diversify program evaluation metrics, such as experiential learning and interprofessional education, by expanding performance indicators at both learner and institutional levels for long-term repeated assessments. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-025-02858-8.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify long-term care facility nurses' perceptions on the use of care robots. Methods: The participants were 106 nurses in seventeen long-term care facilities. The perception of care robots was measured using questionnaires on the availability and efficiency for major nursing care tasks. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA with SPSS/WIN 24.0. Results: Among the participants, 46.2% said they needed an introduction on care robots, 59.4% had heard about care robots, and 11.3% had educational experience with care robots. The perception of care robots by the participants was 3.32±0.60 for the view of availability and 3.32±0.61 for the view of efficiency. Measurement and monitoring areas were found to be high in terms of both availability and efficiency. The perception of care robots according to experiences with care robots (t=2.66, p=.009) showed a statistically significant difference. Conclusion: Nurses in long-term care facilities reported that care robots are needed and that care robots are available and efficient in nursing care. It is necessary to reflect the opinions of nurses in the development of care robots, and to support the nurses' experience with care robots and the facilities and devices for care robots.