This study will be based on any existing literature, of any methodological, quantitative, qualitative or mixed approaches; reviews; and grey literature. There will be no time or language restrictions.

An initial search of MEDLINE via NCBI/PubMed was undertaken to identify key articles on the research topic. Next, the text words contained in the title and abstract of the retrieved articles and indexed terms were used to develop the full search strategy, with the search terms adapted for each information source. Reference lists of relevant articles and reviews will be assessed to identify additional studies.

The searches will begin in the following databases: MEDLINE via NCBI/PubMed; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature via Thomson Reuters Collection; Web of Science (main collection)—via Clarivate Analytics and Embase via Elsevier, accessed through the Periodicals Portal of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel; Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature; Spanish Bibliographic Index of Health Sciences ; Database of Nursing through the Virtual Health Library ; EMBASE; and Google Scholar from inception to 31 July 2024. The proposed strategy to be used in MEDLINE is shown in box 1.

# P: "nursing"[MeSH Terms] OR (Nursing*) OR "nurses"[MeSH Terms] OR (Nurse*) OR "students, nursing"[MeSH Terms] OR (students, nursing) OR (Pupil Nurses) OR (Student, Nursing) OR (Nurses, Pupil) OR (Nurse, Pupil) OR (Pupil Nurse) OR (Nursing Student) OR (Nursing Students) OR (Nursing Personnel) OR (Registered Nurse*) OR (“Nursing faculty members”) OR (nurse student) OR (student nurse)

# C: "Computer simulation"[MeSH Terms] OR "Simulation Training"[MeSH Terms] OR "Computer-Assisted Instruction"[MeSH Terms] OR "Virtual Reality"[MeSH Terms] OR "Augmented reality"[MeSH Terms] OR "High Fidelity Simulation Training"[MeSH Terms] OR (Computer simulation) OR (Simulation Training) OR (Computer-Assisted Instruction) OR (Virtual Reality) OR (Augmented reality) OR (Training, Simulation) OR (Simulation Exercise) OR (Patient Simulation) OR (Interactive Learning) OR (Learning, Interactive) OR (Computer Simulations) OR (Simulation, Computer) OR (Simulations, Computer) OR (Models, Computer) OR (Computerized Models) OR (Computerized Model) OR (Model, Computerized) OR (Computer-Assisted Instruction) OR (Virtual Simulation Game) OR (Simulation Game) OR (Simulation Gaming) OR (Clinical Simulation) OR (Programmed Instruction, Computerized) OR (Self-Instruction Programs, Computerized) OR (Simulations) OR (Simulat*) OR (Computerized Clinical Simulation Testing) OR (virtual patient*) OR (Serious Game*) OR (Game*) OR (Digital Games) OR (Augmented reality) OR (Interactive virtual simulation learning) OR (Screen-based simulated systems) OR (Virtual simulation gaming) OR (Conceptual simulation model) OR (Digital learning environment) OR (Virtual Learning Environment) OR (Mixed Reality)

# C: "Cardiology"[MeSH Terms] OR "Heart Diseases"[MeSH Terms] OR "Heart Valve Diseases"[MeSH Terms] OR "Cardiovascular Diseases"[MeSH Terms] OR "Cardiovascular System"[MeSH Terms] OR "Heart"[MeSH Terms] OR "Veins"[MeSH Terms] OR "Arteries"[MeSH Terms] OR (Cardiology) OR (Heart Diseases) OR (Heart Valve Diseases) OR (Cardiovascular System) OR (Heart) OR (Veins) OR (Arteries) OR (Heart Disease) OR (Cardiac Disease*) OR (Cardiac Disorders) OR (Cardiac Disorder) OR (Heart Disorders) OR (Heart Disorder) OR (Cardiovascular Disease*) OR (Major Adverse Cardiac Events) OR (Cardiac Event*) OR (Cardiac Event*, Adverse) OR (cardiac) OR (cardio*) OR (Heart Valve Disease) OR (Valve Disease, Heart) OR (Heart Valvular Disease) OR (Disease, Heart Valvular) OR (Heart Valvular Diseases) OR (Valvular Disease, Heart) OR (Valvular Heart Diseases) OR (Heart Disease, Valvular) OR (Valvular Heart Disease) OR (Cardiovascular Nursing) OR (Vascular Medicine) OR (Medicine, Vascular) OR (Angiology) OR (Cardiovascular Disease Specialty) OR (Disease Specialty, Cardiovascular) OR (Specialty, Cardiovascular Disease) OR (Hearts) OR (Vein) OR (Artery)

# P AND C AND C: Search: (("nursing"[MeSH Terms] OR (Nursing*) OR "nurses"[MeSH Terms] OR (Nurse*) OR "students, nursing"[MeSH Terms] OR (students, nursing) OR (Pupil Nurses) OR (Student, Nursing) OR (Nurses, Pupil) OR (Nurse, Pupil) OR (Pupil Nurse) OR (Nursing Student) OR (Nursing Students) OR (Nursing Personnel) OR (Registered Nurse*) OR ("Nursing faculty members") OR (nurse student) OR (student nurse)) AND ("Computer simulation"[MeSH Terms] OR "Simulation Training"[MeSH Terms] OR "Computer-Assisted Instruction"[MeSH Terms] OR "Virtual Reality"[MeSH Terms] OR "Augmented reality"[MeSH Terms] OR (Computer simulation) OR (Simulation Training) OR (Computer-Assisted Instruction) OR (Virtual Reality) OR (Augmented reality) OR (Patient Simulation) OR (Computer Simulations) OR (Simulation*, Computer) OR (Models, Computer) OR (Computerized Model*) OR (Computer-Assisted Instruction) OR (Virtual Simulation Game) OR (Simulation Game) OR (Simulation Gaming) OR (Clinical Simulation) OR (Programmed Instruction, Computerized) OR (Self-Instruction Programs, Computerized) OR (Simulations) OR (Simulat*) OR (Computerized Clinical Simulation Testing) OR (virtual patient*) OR (Serious Game*) OR (Game*) OR (Digital Games) OR (Augmented reality) OR (Interactive virtual simulation learning) OR (Screen-based simulated systems) OR (Virtual simulation gaming) OR (Conceptual simulation model) OR (Digital learning environment) OR (Virtual Learning Environment) OR (Mixed Reality))) AND ((("nursing"[MeSH Terms] OR (Nursing*) OR "nurses"[MeSH Terms] OR (Nurse*) OR "students, nursing"[MeSH Terms] OR (students, nursing) OR (Pupil Nurses) OR (Student, Nursing) OR (Nurses, Pupil) OR (Nurse, Pupil) OR (Pupil Nurse) OR (Nursing Student) OR (Nursing Students) OR (Nursing Personnel) OR (Registered Nurse*) OR ("Nursing faculty members") OR (nurse student) OR (student nurse)) AND ("Computer simulation"[MeSH Terms] OR "Simulation Training"[MeSH Terms] OR "Computer-Assisted Instruction"[MeSH Terms] OR "Virtual Reality"[MeSH Terms] OR "Augmented reality"[MeSH Terms] OR "High Fidelity Simulation Training"[MeSH Terms] OR (Computer simulation) OR (Simulation Training) OR (Computer-Assisted Instruction) OR (Virtual Reality) OR (Augmented reality) OR (Training, Simulation) OR (Simulation Exercise) OR (Patient Simulation) OR (Interactive Learning) OR (Learning, Interactive) OR (Computer Simulations) OR (Simulation, Computer) OR (Simulations, Computer) OR (Models, Computer) OR (Computerized Models) OR (Computerized Model) OR (Model, Computerized) OR (Computer-Assisted Instruction) OR (Virtual Simulation Game) OR (Simulation Game) OR (Simulation Gaming) OR (Clinical Simulation) OR (Programmed Instruction, Computerized) OR (Self-Instruction Programs, Computerized) OR (Simulations) OR (Simulat*) OR (Computerized Clinical Simulation Testing) OR (virtual patient*) OR (Serious Game*) OR (Game*) OR (Digital Games) OR (Augmented reality) OR (Interactive virtual simulation learning) OR (Screen-based simulated systems) OR (Virtual simulation gaming) OR (Conceptual simulation model) OR (Digital learning environment) OR (Virtual Learning Environment) OR (Mixed Reality))) AND ("Cardiology"[MeSH Terms] OR "Heart Diseases"[MeSH Terms] OR "Heart Valve Diseases"[MeSH Terms] OR "Cardiovascular Diseases"[MeSH Terms] OR "Cardiovascular System"[MeSH Terms] OR "Heart"[MeSH Terms] OR (Cardiology) OR (Heart Diseases) OR (Heart Valve Diseases) OR (Cardiovascular System) OR (Heart*) OR (Heart Disease) OR (Cardiac Disease*) OR (Cardiac Disorders) OR (Cardiac Disorder) OR (Heart Disorders) OR (Heart Disorder) OR (Cardiovascular Disease*) OR (Major Adverse Cardiac Events) OR (Cardiac Event*) OR (Cardiac Event*, Adverse) OR (cardiac) OR (cardio*) OR (Cardiovascular Nursing) OR (Vascular Medicine) OR (Medicine, Vascular) OR (Angiology) OR (Cardiovascular Disease Specialty)))