This study aimed to explore the application effect of 3D printing combined with virtual reality (VR) technology in nursing education for intracranial tumors; a total of 60 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in September 2025 were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, with 30 students in each group. The experimental group received teaching with 3D printing models combined with VR virtual surgical scenarios, while the control group adopted traditional multimedia teaching; after the teaching intervention, theoretical examinations, skill operation assessments, and questionnaire surveys were conducted to evaluate the teaching effect. The results showed that the theoretical scores and skill operation scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05), and the experimental group also exhibited significant advantages in improving spatial comprehension, surgical cooperation ability, learning interest, and clinical adaptability compared with the control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, 3D printing combined with VR technology can effectively improve nursing students’ mastery of intracranial tumor–related knowledge and operational skills, enhance their clinical adaptability and teamwork ability, and thus has high teaching application value in intracranial tumor nursing education.

Yue Gu, Shasha Ma, Ying Liu. Application of 3D Printing Combined with Virtual Reality (VR) Technology in Nursing Education: A Case Study of Intracranial Tumors. International Journal of New Developments in Education (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 2: 83-88. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJNDE.2026.080212.

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