The Contribution of Dance Movement Therapy in Promoting Nursing Students’ Interpersonal Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study

Valerio Dimonte, Silvia Gonella, Beatrice Albanesi (), Eugenia Malinverni, Sara Campagna () and Alessio Conti
Additional contact information
Valerio Dimonte: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy
Silvia Gonella: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy
Beatrice Albanesi: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy
Eugenia Malinverni: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy
Sara Campagna: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy
Alessio Conti: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most universities closed or reduced clinical placements (CPs), limiting nursing students’ opportunities to practice communication and interpersonal skills before graduating. When applied in nursing curriculums, Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) enhances students’ understanding of the theoretical concepts of communication and interpersonal skills, representing a valuable educational tool when CPs are reduced, as during the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive phenomenological study aims to describe the contribution of DMT in promoting third-year nursing students’ relational skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-four nursing students who attended a DMT workshop completed a reflective journal. Data were analysed using content analysis. Three themes emerged: struggling to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, lived experience of DMT, and professional identity development. The first theme illustrates the connection participants made between their experiences during the DMT workshop and the caregiving challenges imposed by the pandemic; the second theme describes how the workshop fostered emotional and physical connections among its participants; the third theme focuses on the awareness participants acquired regarding their professional role during the workshop. When CPs opportunities are limited, DMT workshops can represent an educational tool to promote interpersonal and communication skills among nursing students, facilitating their transition into the profession.

Keywords: dance movement therapy; art-based education; COVID-19; relational skills; nursing students; professional education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1376/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1376/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1376-:d:1033103

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().