The use and application of drama in nursing education--an integrative review of the literature

Abstract

Background: Caring is grounded on universal humanistic values such as kindness, empathy, concern and love for self and others. Nurses need to learn how to implement these values in the care for patients. Nursing students find it hard to assimilate theoretical knowledge in practice. Experiential learning in the form of drama has been used in several studies to enhance nursing students' learning.

Aim: The aim of this study was to review empirical and theoretical articles on the use and application of drama in nursing education.

Design: An integrative review of the literature.

Method: The databases CINAHL, PubMed, ProQuest and Academic search elite were searched for articles.

Result: The search generated 64 articles, with 20 articles meeting the inclusive criteria. Three themes with their attendant subthemes emerged through the analysis. The themes are: The Framing, The Objectives and The Embodiment.

Conclusion: Drama is effective in entry level courses in nursing education to enhance student learning and can be flexible and adjusted to various contexts. Further research using drama to enroll nursing students as fictive patients and relatives and thereby explore different perspectives is suggested, and more research on the application of drama in nursing education at an advanced level is required.

Keywords: Application of drama; Drama; Educational drama; Integrative literature review; Nursing education; Teaching.