Purpose: This study examined the impact of a virtual reality intervention program based on psychological needs on behavioral psychological symptoms, apathy, and quality of life in patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment living in nursing facilities. Methods: This study is nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design of quasi-experimental study. The study collected data from November 18, 2020 to July 24, 2021 from patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (30 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group) at three nursing facilities in G city using self-reporting and caregiver-informant reporting methods. The analysis employed the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, paired t-test, independent t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Mann-Whitney U, repeated measures ANOVA, GEE, using SPSS/WIN 27.0. Results: The severity of behavioral psychological symptoms (Wald χ2 = 2.68, p = .102) and the care burden of caregivers (Wald χ2 = 1.72 p = .190) were not significant and was no significant time and group interaction effect (Wald χ2 = 0.63, p = .426, Wald χ2 = 0.52, p =. 471). The difference in apathy and QOL score were statistically significant for the group by time interaction (F = 43.65, p <.001; F = 4.35, p = .041). Conclusion: The virtual reality intervention program of this study showed the positive effect of reducing apathy and improving the quality of life of patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment residing in nursing facilities.