Analyzing a decade of research trends in The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education using topic modeling

Purpose: This study explored research trends in nursing education by analyzing abstracts from The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education over the past decade using text network analysis and topic modeling.Methods: A total of 429 articles published between 2015 and 2024 were included. English abstracts were extracted and core terms were refined using synonyms and exceptions obtained from the dictionary. A co-occurrence matrix of 199 high-frequency keywords was created. NetMiner software was used to analyze degree centrality and semantic structures, followed by Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling.Results: Core keywords including “student,” “nursing,” “education,” “nurse,” “clinical practice,” “competency,” and “communication” were central in the network, reflecting student-centered and competency-based education. Four key topics emerged: (1) hospital-based nursing education and nursing job readiness; (2) relationships between health, stress, and depressive behaviors in nursing students; (3) practice-based clinical education for nursing students; and (4) communication skills and competencies in nursing education. Research trends demonstrate a shift from traditional clinical training to communication skills and mental health, particularly after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.Conclusion: Korean nursing education research has predominantly focused on themes such as clinical competence, adaptation to clinical practice, and communication skills among nursing students. Pedagogical changes are required to advance nursing education in line with contemporary needs, particularly in faculty development and curriculum innovation. Future research should focus on the needs of the aging population, strengthen faculty teaching capacities, and integrate information literacy into nursing curricula to align with the rapidly changing healthcare environment.