Nursing and theatre collaborate: an end-of-life simulation using forum theatre

End-of-life care is an essential part of undergraduate nursing education. However, students may not have the opportunity to be exposed to an actual end-of-life situation during clinical rotations. A pilot project was implemented to evaluate the use of forum theatre to teach end-of-life care to undergraduate nursing students. A simulation used live actors, with theatre faculty and students playing the roles of a hospice patient, family members, and nursing students providing end-of-life care. Additional nursing students were participant observers. Using forum theatre methods, students identified important moments that occurred during the simulation and suggested alternative actions for those moments. The simulation was repeated using those alternatives and was evaluated by the students. Group debriefing was provided by nursing faculty with all students. A reflective journal entry was completed by all students. Project outcomes indicated that forum theatre was an effective teaching method for the topic of end-of-life care.