In recent decades, the progressive acceleration of life, also favoured by technology, has led to profound changes at the individual, institutional and societal levels, including the way healthcare services are delivered and how healthcare professionals are educated. In response to this trend, the Slow Movement (SM) philosophy has re-emerged (Honoré, 2004), both as a philosophical (Alba-Juez, 2021) and practical approach (Parkins & Geoffrey, 2006).

In healthcare, SM focuses on the centrality of the patient and the need for more humane, reflective care that respects the time and needs of the person being cared for (Bonaldi and Vernero, 2015). This approach also encompasses the education of healthcare professionals and prioritises mindful and deep learning over the pressures of efficiency and speed of skill acquisition (Berg and Seeber, 2016). In the specific area of nursing education, SM could improve the quality of students' learning experiences by providing a sustainable programme that alleviates the workload and stress often associated with retention issues (Dogham et al., 2024). However, despite the theoretical benefits, slower, more reflective teaching has not yet been systematically integrated into nursing curricula (Bridges et al., 2013). Among other barriers, completing the mandatory 4600 hours expected across Europe (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2005, European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2013) reduces the time available for students to learn by exerting pressures that can negatively impact their learning experience and mental health (Efstathiou et al., 2025). Given the context of nursing education and practise in Western healthcare systems, where "modern nursing" is typically associated with graduate level education, evidence-based practise, advanced nursing roles and a technologically advanced clinical environment, and where systems face significant nursing shortages and economic pressures in the delivery of nursing care (World Health Organization, 2025), we chose to explore the application of Slow Movement (SM) in this setting. As far as we are aware, there are few studies that address SM in nursing education and no comprehensive synthesis or discussion that provides evidence for decision making at academic and policy levels. Closing this gap is the central aim of this paper.