The effect of creative drama education on student nurses' perceptions of professional nursing values: a randomised...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of creative, drama-based education on nursing students' perceptions of professional values, using randomised controlled trial (RCT) design.

The study was conducted with 60 nursing students, who were selected through a G*Power calculation, from a population of 260 students studying at a foundation university in Istanbul. The experimental group attended five 90-minute sessions, once a week, incorporating creative drama techniques such as role-play, still image, forum theatre, case analysis and group discussions. The control group received the same content through traditional lectures. Data were collected using the Introductory Information Form and the Nurses' Professional Values Scale at pre- and post-test, and analysed using appropriate statistical methods in SPSS 25.0.

Total and subscale scores on the Nurses' Professional Values Scale were significantly higher for the experimental group than for the control group (p < 0.05). Within-group comparisons revealed substantial improvements across all subscales in the experimental group (p < 0.01), whereas the control group exhibited only minor changes. Differences in some subscales were also observed according to whether or not participants had a healthcare professional in their family.

Creative drama-based education may be an effective method for enhancing nursing students' professional values in the short term. The strengths of this approach lie in supporting active participation and enabling experiential learning of professional values.

The study has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06875531). Registered on 10 March 2025. Although the application for ClinicalTrials.gov registration was submitted before the intervention began, the registration process was finalized and the registration number was assigned after participant recruitment had commenced due to administrative processing timelines. All primary and secondary outcomes, intervention procedures, and statistical analysis plans were pre-specified prior to the initiation of data collection.