The influence of narrative pedagogy on academic achievement and humanistic care ability of Chinese nursing students: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM: This study aims to compare the effects of narrative pedagogy with traditional teaching methods on nursing education outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Narrative pedagogy has been developed for over a decade, and while studies confirm that it can stimulate student interest, foster empathy, and enhance the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical skills in nursing care, there is still insufficient evidence to recommend its widespread adoption.

METHODS: In November 2024, a comprehensive search was conducted across databases including PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, OVID, Scopus, PsychInfo, CNKI, Wanfang Data, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and China Biology Medicine disc (CBM) to identify studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Relevant data were extracted, and the quality of studies was assessed prior to conducting a meta-analysis. The review protocol was prospectively registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO)(CRD42024606820).

RESULTS: Out of an initial pool of 11748 articles, 41 studies were selected for meta-analysis after a rigorous screening process. The results indicate that narrative pedagogy significantly improves nursing students' final examination scores, practical skills, empathy, and professional identity compared with traditional teaching methods.

CONCLUSION: Narrative pedagogy effectively enhances nursing students' final examination performance, practical skills, empathy, and professional identity. However, given the limited number and quality of the included studies, these findings should be confirmed by further high-quality research.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Narrative education has been used in nursing teaching for more than 15 years, but there is no evidence to show the effectiveness of narrative education in nursing students. Therefore, this study aims to conduct the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the learning effects of narrative education on nursing students. From the establishment of the database until November 2024, a systematic evaluation search was conducted on 11 databases. After careful screening process, 41 studies on narrative education of urination nursing students in China were selected for meta-analysis. The results show that narrative education is significantly better than traditional teaching methods in improving final exam scores, practical skills, humanistic care ability, empathy and professional identity. Given the limited number and quality of included studies, these findings should be confirmed by further high-quality studies.