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This study explored the students' perception of their adoption and acceptance of virtual learning (VL), the factors affecting the adoption of educational technologies and the correlation between their intention, perceived behavioral control and care competence in caring for older adults.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Surveys were administered to evaluate the participants who were involved in VL on geriatric care during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A total of 315 nursing students participated in the survey, and 287 valid questionnaires were collected (response rate: 91.11%).

A total of 287 participants (mean age 21.09, SD 1.44 years; 242/287, 84.3% female) were included in the study. The variables of intention to use technologies were positively correlated with care competence (r = 0.59, p < 0.001). The results revealed that the major predictors were perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) (β = 0.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16–0.40) and perceived usefulness (PU) (β = 0.22, CI 0.09–0.35) which were significantly positive predictors of competence in geriatric care.

Nursing students lack in clinical knowledge and situational experience in geriatric care; therefore, their perceptiveness, expressions and reflection on the process of providing care to hospitalized older patients should be increased. These results indicated that students improved in geriatric healthcare after/during the VL program during COVID-19 pandemic.

It is hoped that the present study would make an invaluable contribution to existing research on education in general and on the quality of care in geriatric nursing as limited studies have been published so far.