Whilst clinical simulation is recognised as an effective educational tool within the healthcare community, the inability to offer authentic simulation learning environments remains problematic. The latest advances in technology such as immersive virtual reality (IVR) now offer opportunities to enhance traditional practice to the extent that may transform learning. Determining potential benefits, drawbacks and affordances of IVR simulation may help provide an understanding of its effectiveness. The aim of this scoping review is to understand the extent of immersive virtual reality technology within clinical simulation education and its relationship to psychometric and physiological measures.

Healthcare workers or those studying toward a clinical qualification and perform clinical simulation within an Immersive virtual reality environment will be included in the review. Those who perform comparative replication of skills within IVR will be excluded as the review requires authenticity and innovation rather than a comparator or replicated real-world skill.

Methods: The databases to be searched include ERIC, AMED, PsychINFO (OVID); CHINAHL, MEDLINE (EBSCO); SCOPUS and Web of Science. Grey literature will be searched in Google Scholar and a review of included source reference lists for similar topics will identify relevant studies. Data will be exported via Endnote™ X9 (Clarivate Analytics, PA, USA) to Covidence™ (Veritas Health Innovation, Melbourne, Australia) for peer review. Final results will be presented in tabular form in addition to a narrative summary of findings.