Preparing future nurses for person-centred mental health care through AI-assisted gamified learning: a mixed-methods study

Preparing nursing students to deliver person-centred mental health care requires not only psychiatric knowledge but also positive attitudes toward people with mental illness and the capacity for reflective thinking. This study evaluated an AI-assisted gamified mobile learning system in relation to these learning outcomes in psychiatric nursing education. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study with a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control-group design was conducted between March and April 2026. A total of 106 nursing students from two intact classes participated in a five-week intervention, with 56 receiving AI-assisted gamified mobile learning and 50 receiving non-AI-assisted gamified mobile learning. Outcomes included psychiatric nursing knowledge, attitudes toward mental illness, and reflective thinking. Semi-structured interviews with eight students explored their experiences with AI-assisted learning. Psychiatric nursing knowledge increased in both groups, with no evidence of a difference in improvement between groups ( p = .579; d = 0.11, 95% CI [− 0.27, 0.49]). Participation in the AI-assisted condition was associated with greater improvements in attitudes toward people with mental illness ( p = .041; d = 0.32, 95% CI [− 0.06, 0.71]) and reflective thinking ( p < .001; d = 0.58, 95% CI [0.19, 0.97]). Qualitative findings indicated that students perceived AI-generated feedback and virtual patient interactions as helpful for reflective thinking and awareness of patient perspectives. AI-assisted gamified mobile learning may complement psychiatric nursing education by providing opportunities for reflective thinking and engagement with patient perspectives. The findings suggest potential educational value for thoughtfully integrating AI-assisted learning into psychiatric nursing education, while not establishing improvements in person-centred care competence or clinical practice.