The power of role play in nursing education: A bibliometric analysis and visualization

Aim: This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of research involving the role play method in nursing education by visualizing global research trends in this area, identifying the journals with the most publications, and examining author and country collaborations. Methods: The study utilized data retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) database and conducted analyses using Vosviewer, Bibliometrix, and custom-written Python scripts. 281 publications were included in the bibliometric analysis. Results: Research on the role play method spans from 1993 to 2024. The top three research areas are; "Nursing," "Education & Educational Research" and "Health Care Sciences & Services". The dataset includes articles from 119 different journals, with minimal collaboration observed among authors, countries, and institutions. Conclusion: This study thoroughly explored global trends and key areas of role play in nursing research using bibliometric and visualization analyses. The analysis results showed that the role play method is gaining growing recognition in nursing education and the development of clinical skills. Future research is recommended to explore its effectiveness across diverse cultural and clinical contexts and encourage interdisciplinary collaborations to expand the knowledge base.