The application of conversational artificial intelligence in nursing clinical reasoning education: A scoping review of roles, opportunities, and challenges

Clinical reasoning is a core competency in nursing practice, yet its effective teaching faces challenges such as time constraints, limited resources, and insufficient individualized instruction. The rapid advancement of conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) in recent years offers new possibilities for innovating nursing education models. This scoping review aims to systematically map the current application of CAI in nursing clinical reasoning education, delineate its specific roles, analyze the educational opportunities it presents, and identify the main challenges and future directions. By synthesizing existing evidence, this review seeks to provide an evidence-based reference for educators, technology developers, and policymakers to promote the effective and responsible integration of this technology into nursing education. It also offers practical guidance for the application of conversational AI in clinical nursing teaching such as outpatient nursing training.