Jiani Zheng, Qianqian Yang, Xue Fu, Jingyi Zou, Jing Tang, Li Zeng, Jinxia Jiang
ChatGPT presents both advantages and limitations in nursing education. The synthesized findings suggested that nursing students' experiences of ChatGPT were diverse, may shaped by individual, technological, and institutional factors. Nursing educators and institutions may therefore consider complementing technical training with greater attention to develop a comprehensive educational support system that promotes more cautious and responsible use of ChatGPT in nursing education.
BACKGROUND: With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, as an interactive large language model, is increasingly entering higher education settings and influencing how students access information and engage in learning activities. As both important users of digital technologies and future nursing professionals, nursing students' experiences, perceptions, and reflections regarding ChatGPT are essential for understanding how this technology may be incorporated into nursing education.
AIM: This study aimed to systematically synthesize qualitative evidence on nursing students' experiences of ChatGPT, explore their perceived benefits and challenges, and provide an evidence base to inform the development of nursing education practice.
METHODS: 11 databases were searched for relevant articles, with searches conducted up to May 2026. Two researchers independently performed literature screening, quality assessment, and data extraction. The Joanna Briggs Institute's qualitative research appraisal tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies and the ConQual approach was applied to assess confidence of the synthesized findings.
RESULTS: Ten studies were included and synthesized into three core themes and ten sub-themes. The core themes were: benefiting from human-AI collaboration, reflecting on application dilemmas and rebuilding the educational ecosystem. The sub-themes comprised: optimizing information acquisition, empowering academic research, gaining emotional support, over-dependence tendencies, information quality concerns, limitations in professional suitability, academic integrity and ethical concerns, updating the curriculum system, innovating teaching methods, and improving practice guidelines.
CONCLUSION: ChatGPT presents both advantages and limitations in nursing education. The synthesized findings suggested that nursing students' experiences of ChatGPT were diverse, may shaped by individual, technological, and institutional factors. Nursing educators and institutions may therefore consider complementing technical training with greater attention to develop a comprehensive educational support system that promotes more cautious and responsible use of ChatGPT in nursing education.