BACKGROUND: Nursing educators need to equip students to work in interprofessional teams and advocate for patients in increasingly integrated health and social care settings. Drama-based education has been used in nursing to help students understand complex concepts and practices, including communication, empathy, and patient safety. However, few studies have evaluated drama-based education to promote understanding of interprofessional care and advocacy, and none have involved student-led drama where students create dramatic performances to support learning.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of student-led drama on student nurses\' attitudes to interprofessional working and advocacy.
METHODS: Pre-test post-test educational intervention study.
METHODS: Public university in Scotland.
METHODS: 400 undergraduate student nurses enrolled on a 15-week module focussed on health and social care integration and interprofessional working.
METHODS: Students completed paper questionnaires at the start (n = 274, response rate: 80.1 %) and end (n = 175, 63.9 %) of the module. Outcome measures were the validated Attitudes Towards Healthcare Teams Scale (ATHCTS) and Protective Nursing Advocacy Scale (PNAS). Change in mean ATHCTS and PNAS scores were assessed using paired samples t-tests, with Cohen\'s d to estimate effect size.
RESULTS: ATHCTS scores significantly increased from 3.87 to 4.19 (p < 0.001, d = 0.52). PNAS scores increased from 3.58 to 3.81 (p < 0.001, d = 0.79), with significant improvements in the \'acting as an advocate\' (4.18 to 4.51, p < 0.001, d = 0.81) and \'environmental and educational influences\' subscales (3.79 to 4.13, p < 0.001, d = 0.75). Statements focussed on promoting holistic, dignified care and enabling health professionals to be responsive to emotional and financial needs of patients, showed greatest change.
CONCLUSIONS: Education based on plays created and performed by student nurses led to significant improvements in student nurses\' attitudes towards interprofessional working and nursing advocacy. Student-led drama should be embedded in nursing curricula to enable students to understand the realities and complexities of health and social care integration and interprofessional working.

OBJECTIVE: To contribute insight into health and social care integration through an exploration of the care experiences of adults with degenerative neuromuscular conditions who use a mechanical ventilator at home.
METHODS: Descriptive qualitative research.
METHODS: Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients and family carers living in Scotland during 2015-2016 and thematically analysed.
RESULTS: To achieve a satisfying life, home ventilated participants required help from a variety of health and social care services, as well as care from family. Examples of successful care were identified, but there were also serious failures and conflict with services. Identifying how care fails or succeeds for this patient population and their families requires an understanding of the interdependency of health and social care. This was achieved by examining health and social care provision from the experiential perspective of care-users to provide insights into how disconnected provision has an impact on users\' lives in numerous, idiosyncratic ways.