The effect of creative drama-based teaching on the knowledge level of nursing theories and perception of the nursing...

To evaluate the impact of a creative drama-based teaching approach on nursing students' understanding of nursing theories and models and their perception of the nursing profession.

Nursing theories and models play a role in developing professional identity and theoretical reasoning; however, their abstract nature may make them difficult for students to understand. Creative drama offers an approach that integrates theoretical content with experiential learning and supports cognitive and affective processes.

This study was designed as a three-time-point randomized controlled trial.

The trial was conducted with 54 first-year nursing students at a private university in Istanbul during the 2023-2024 academic year. Students were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 27) receiving a creative drama-based instructional programme, or a control group (n = 27) receiving the same content through traditional teaching. The Knowledge Assessment Test (primary outcome) and the Nursing Profession Perception Scale (secondary outcome) were administered before the intervention, immediately after and three months later. Data were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVA and t-tests and effect sizes were calculated. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06485570).

Although knowledge scores increased in both groups, the intervention group demonstrated higher post-test and retention scores (p < .05), with medium-to-large effect sizes (Cohen's d ≈ 0.60-0.80). For perception, a significant improvement was observed only in the "professional qualifications" subscale, while other subscales showed limited change.

Creative drama-based instruction enhances nursing students' theoretical knowledge and improves perception, suggesting it is an effective strategy for teaching theoretical nursing content.