With the rapid development of science and technology, artificial intelligence has penetrated every field, including the nursing education industry. This paper aims to discuss the application, challenges, and development trends of artificial intelligence in nursing education. The application of artificial intelligence technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality technology, ChatGPT, and knowledge graph in nursing education reveals its important role in improving the quality of nursing teaching, stimulating students’ learning interest, and helping students build clinical practice ability. At the same time, this paper also points out the challenges existing in the application process of artificial intelligence, including privacy and security issues, over-dependence problems, lack of cognition of nursing staff, and difficulties in interdisciplinary integration. Finally, this paper puts forward countermeasures to the existing challenges, including teaching method innovation, curriculum content reform, curriculum module optimization, etc., in order to promote the development of nursing education and cultivate high-quality nursing talents who are more in line with the needs of the times.