Effects of Virtual Reality Interventions on Mental Health Outcomes Among Healthcare Workers in Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review

Alfred Haeussl^1,2,3*Ina Zwigl^1*Hannah Lackner¹Verena Reiter¹Tatjana Stross¹Frederike Fellendorf¹Elena M. D. Schönthaler¹Matthias Huber¹Veronika Huber¹Johanna Schedlberger²Lukas G. Repnik⁴Jolana Wagner-Skacel⁴Benjamin Roszipal^2,5Markus Karlseder⁵Sebastian Egger-Lampl⁵Marko Stijic⁶Melanie Lenger¹Eva Z Reininghaus¹Nina Dalkner^1*

• ¹Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
• ²Department of Health Sciences, Fachhochschule St Polten, St Pölten, Austria
• ³Department of Applied Nursing Science, Hochschule Campus Wien, Vienna, Austria
• ⁴Department of Medical Psychology, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
• ⁵Mindconsole GmbH, Graz, Austria
• ⁶Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs), such as nurses and medical doctors in hospital settings routinely experience significant psychological stress, anxiety, and burnout, a situation greatly intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an innovative intervention for promoting mental health. Yet the effects of VR-based interventions on mental health among HCWs remain insufficiently synthesized. Methods: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Comprehensive database searches were performed across PubMed, MEDLINE, Ovid, CINAHL, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar for studies published from 2020 to August 2025. Methodological quality was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), and a narrative synthesis approach was adopted due to heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes. Results: Ten studies were included, representing diverse international hospital contexts and a range of VR intervention formats, content, and durations. The significant effects could be clustered into the five categories: stress reduction and management, anxiety management, burnout prevention and reduction, enhancement of psychological well-being, as well as resilience promotion and skill-building. Eight studies demonstrated that VR interventions led to significant reductions in acute subjective stress and improvements in mood. Anxiety management was addressed in three studies, all of which reported significant decreases in anxiety post-VR exposure. One study targeting burnout prevention showed statistically significant declines in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and increases in work engagement metrics. Qualitative findings further indicated enhanced well-being, improved relaxation, and skill-building in coping and resilience. VR interventions were generally well-accepted, feasible to implement, and associated with minimal adverse effects. Discussion: This review demonstrates that VR interventions represent a promising approach to supporting the mental health of hospital HCWs. VR enables rapid stress and anxiety alleviation, and when delivered as a sustained program, it may also mitigate burnout and foster resilience. Despite heterogeneity among protocols and outcomes, the favorable acceptability and acute effectiveness of VR underscore its potential for integration into routine staff well-being initiatives. Future research should prioritize rigorous, longitudinal, and comparative studies to clarify optimal implementation strategies and long-term impact. Systematic review registration: https://aspredicted.org/prs9-bynt.pdf, identifier 241831