Effectiveness of a virtual reality programme in improving understanding and practice of palliative care: a systematic review

Background

Training in palliative care is essential to prepare healthcare professionals to provide compassionate care. Traditional methods often fail to equip students with necessary skills and knowledge. Virtual reality offers immersive, interactive learning environments which may offer a promising alternative.

Aim

To conduct a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality programmes in enhancing nursing and medical students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding palliative care.

Design

A systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024538984).

Data sources

A literature search was conducted in August 2025 using Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Medline, Scopus and Web of Science databases, covering publications from inception to August 2025 that identified studies on virtual reality interventions in palliative care education. A review of reference lists, citation searching and Google Scholar was also included.

Results

Seven studies met inclusion criteria, reporting statistically significant improvements in knowledge, skills and attitudes following virtual reality training. The evidence highlights a clear pattern of improvement across various educational and clinical domains with participants reporting increased preparedness for real-world practice. Participants consistently reported high engagement and satisfaction.

Conclusions

Virtual reality technology shows promise in improving palliative care education by enhancing knowledge, skills and attitudes among doctors and nurses, both qualified and students. Future research should employ robust experimental designs, larger sample sizes and long-term evaluations to confirm these findings.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42024538984.