Fostering understanding of anatomy and physiology among undergraduate nursing students for integration into clinical practice: An integrative literature review
Abstract
Aim To critically examine and synthesise peer-reviewed scientific literature to describe how undergraduate nursing students can be prepared for the integration of anatomy and physiology into clinical practice. Background Anatomy and physiology courses provide a scientific foundation for health and disease processes and inform all interventions in their management. However, integrating anatomy and physiology into clinical practice is one of the more challenging aspects of nursing education. Design An integrative literature review METHODS: Data were retrieved from PubMed Central, SCOPUS, ScienceDirect, Medline and EBSCOHOST databases, including CINAHL. Quality was ensured through the Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Appraisal Tool. Data synthesis occurred alongside thematic analysis, which was conducted using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. The PRISMA guidelines were followed for reporting findings. Results Twenty-one articles were included in the review, representing studies across 11 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe. The findings revealed that preparation for undergraduate nursing students for the integration of anatomy and physiology into clinical practice is through learner-centred teaching and learning approaches, the use of technology, curriculum transformation, practical educational strategies, the clinical setting as a learning context, an interdisciplinary approach and the integration of anatomy and physiology within practical assessments. Conclusions…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Traditional lecture-based teaching approaches often rely heavily on static diagrams, physical models, and teacher-centered explanations.
“Traditional lecture-based teaching approaches often rely heavily on static diagrams, physical models, and teacher-centered explanations [4].”
Traditional teaching methods often present these concepts in fragmented ways, which may hinder students from constructing coherent cognitive frameworks.
“Traditional teaching methods often present these concepts in fragmented ways, which may hinder students from constructing coherent cognitive frameworks [4, 5].”
Cites
The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., et al. (2021) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-021-01626-4 · Cited by 13,874 · see citing works
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238 · Cited by 9,727 · see citing works
Formulating research questions for evidence-based studies
Hosseini, M., Jahanshahlou, F., Akbarzadeh, M. A., Zarei, M., & Vaez-Gharamaleki, Y. (2023) · Journal of Medicine Surgery and Public Health · doi:10.1016/j.glmedi.2023.100046 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Teaching anatomy using an active and engaging learning strategy
Singh, K., Bharatha, A., Sa, B., Adams, O. P., & Majumder, M. A. A. (2019) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-019-1590-2 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Solutions to bridge the theory-practice gap in nursing education in the UAE: a qualitative study
Saifan, A. R., Devadas, B. R., Daradkeh, F., Fattah, H. A. A., Aljabery, M. A., & Michael, L. M. (2021) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02919-x · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Lubbe, W., ten Ham‐Baloyi, W., & Smit, K. (2020) · Journal of Neonatal Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.jnn.2020.04.006 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Patra, A., Asghar, A., Chaudhary, P., & Ravi, K. S. (2022) · Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy · doi:10.1007/s00276-021-02868-6 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Grønlien, H. K., Christoffersen, T. E., Ringstad, Ø., Andreassen, M., & Lugo, R. G. (2021) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103046 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Beyond ‘driving’: The relationship between assessment, performance and learning
Scott, I. M. (2019) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.13935 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Interprofessional education in anatomy: Learning together in medical and nursing training
Herrmann, G., Woermann, U., & Schlegel, C. (2014) · Anatomical Sciences Education · doi:10.1002/ase.1506 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Bingen, H. M., Steindal, S. A., Krumsvik, R. J., & Tveit, B. (2019) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2019.01.004 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
The Anatomical Society's core anatomy syllabus for undergraduate nursing
Connolly, S. A., Gillingwater, T. H., Chandler, C., Grant, A., Greig, J., Meskell, M., Ross, M., Smith, C. F., Wood, A., & Finn, G. M. (2018) · Journal of Anatomy · doi:10.1111/joa.12782 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Taylor, V., Ashelford, S., Fell, P. L., & Goacher, P. (2015) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/jocn.12880 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Ngan, O. M. Y., Tang, T. L. H., Chan, A. K., Chen, D. M., & Tang, M. K. (2017) · Health Professions Education · doi:10.1016/j.hpe.2017.11.001 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Advancing student nurse knowledge of the biomedical sciences: A mixed methods study
Craft, J. A., Christensen, M., Bakon, S., & Wirihana, L. (2016) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2016.10.003 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Craft, J. A., Hudson, P., Plenderleith, M. B., & Gordon, C. J. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/jocn.13569 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Hung, M. S. Y., Lam, S. K. K., & Chow, M. C. M. (2020) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102829 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Narnaware, Y., & Neumeier, M. (2021) · Teaching and learning in nursing · doi:10.1016/j.teln.2021.06.003 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Horiuchi‐Hirose, M., Fukuoka, T., & Saeki, Y. (2023) · BMC Nursing · doi:10.1186/s12912-023-01436-0 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Difficulties and innovations in teaching anatomy and physiology in nursing
Satoh, M., Fujimura, A., & Miyagawa, S. (2023) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103551 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Virtual Dissection: Alternative to Cadaveric Dissection for a Pregnant Nurse Anesthesia Student
Washmuth, N. B., Cahoon, T. M., Tuggle, K., & Hunsinger, R. N. (2019) · Health Professions Education · doi:10.1016/j.hpe.2019.11.001 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Wood, A., Chandler, C., Connolly, S. A., Finn, G. M., Redmond, C., Jolly, J., Powell, A. D., Davies, C., & Grant, A. (2020) · AJP Advances in Physiology Education · doi:10.1152/advan.00139.2019 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Montayre, J., Ramjan, L. M., Maneze, D., Ho, M., Maceri, A., & Salamonson, Y. (2020) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104729 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Bioscience learning in nursing: a cross-sectional survey of beginning nursing students in Norway
Evensen, A. E., Brataas, H. V., & Cui, G. (2020) · BMC Nursing · doi:10.1186/s12912-019-0394-3 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Nursing Students’ Perceptions of a Silent Mentor Program in an Anatomy Course
Lai, H., Perng, S., & Huang, C. (2019) · Anatomical Sciences Education · doi:10.1002/ase.1863 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Bioscience learning in clinical placement: the experiences of pre‐registration nursing students
Fell, P. L., Dobbins, K., & Dee, P. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/jocn.13097 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Final year Australian nursing students’ experiences with bioscience: A cross‐sectional survey
Gordon, C. J., Hudson, P., Plenderleith, M. B., Fisher, M., & Craft, J. A. (2016) · Nursing and Health Sciences · doi:10.1111/nhs.12310 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Montayre, J., Dimalapang, E., Sparks, T., & Neville, S. J. (2019) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2019.05.013 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Barton, M., Bentley, S. R., Craft, J. A., Dupen, O., Gordon, C. J., Cayanan, E. A., Kunst, E. L., Connors, A., Todorovic, M., & Johnston, A. N. B. (2021) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104767 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Teaching bioscience to nursing students—What works?
Knutstad, U., Småstuen, M. C., & Jensen, K. T. (2020) · Nursing Open · doi:10.1002/nop2.709 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Mortimer-Jones, S. M., & Fetherston, C. (2018) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2018.02.006 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Digital explanations and nursing students’ perception of learning science
Meedya, S., Moroney, T. L., Nielsen, W., & Bokat, I. N. (2019) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2019.102636 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Development of an electronic role-play assessment initiative in bioscience for nursing students
Craft, J. A., & Ainscough, L. (2014) · Innovations in Education and Teaching International · doi:10.1080/14703297.2014.931241 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Montayre, J., & Sparks, T. (2017) · Teaching and learning in nursing · doi:10.1016/j.teln.2017.03.009 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
A narrative literature review on new technologies for teaching anatomy
Bankar, M., Bankar, N. J., Gajbe, U., Singh, B., Mishra, V. H., Bahadure, S. D., Bandre, G. R., Bankar, S. N., & Shelke, Y. P. (2024) · International Journal of Academic Medicine · doi:10.4103/ijam.ijam_30_24 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Manchester, K. R., & Roberts, D. (2024) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2024.104226 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Case-based learning: A ‘Case’ for restructuring anatomy education in Indian nursing curriculum
Das, S., Ponnusamy, K. A., Tripathi, A., Jaison, J., & Rathinam, B. A. D. (2022) · Journal of Education and Health Promotion · doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_710_21 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Human anatomy curriculum reform for undergraduate nursing students: An exploratory study
Yao, Q., Cheng, Y., Wang, W., & Yu, X. (2024) · Clinical Anatomy · doi:10.1002/ca.24142 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Rafferty, B., Mthimunye, K. D. T., & Bimerew, M. S. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0294319 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Beyond the Classroom: Inspiring Medical and Health Science Students to Learn Surface Anatomy
Díaz, C. (2022) · Medical Science Educator · doi:10.1007/s40670-022-01521-0 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Nursing student learning of biosciences through movies and concept maps: A mixed study
Mata, F. R., Donaire, L. F., Vélez, O. C., Ortega, J. T., Sastre‐Rus, M., & Roca, J. (2022) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105480 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Wienhold, C. J., & Branchaw, J. L. (2018) · CBE—Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.17-08-0158 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
From classroom to clinic: Bridging the gap in nursing anatomy and physiology education
Manchester, K. R., & Roberts, D. (2023) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103870 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Blum, C. G., Richter, R., Fuchs, R., Sandeck, F., & Heermann, S. (2020) · Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger · doi:10.1016/j.aanat.2020.151534 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
The Effects of Flipped Learning Approaches in Anatomy Class
Hwang, Y. H., & Oh, J. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su132413724 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Lee, C., & Wang, J. (2023) · Anatomical Sciences Education · doi:10.1002/ase.2350 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Nursing Students’ Preferences for Learning Medical and Bioscience Subjects: A Qualitative Study
Kyte, L., Lindaas, I., Dahl, H., Valaker, I., Kleiven, O. T., & Sægrov, S. (2023) · Nursing Reports · doi:10.3390/nursrep13020055 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
ZHANG, M., Yan, Y., Sun, B., Xiao, C., Yang, J., Yu, Z., & Yang, D. (2025) · Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development · doi:10.1177/23821205251328952 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Bostedt, D., Dogan, E. H., Benker, S. C., Rasmus, M. A., Eisner, E., Simon, N. L., Schmitz, M., Missler, M., & Darici, D. (2024) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-024-05451-w · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Flipped classroom in physiology education: where are we and where are we heading?
Liu, J., Wu, Z., Lan, Y.-Z., Chen, W.-J., Wu, B.-X., Chen, W.-J., & Wu, H.-T. (2024) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2024.1448371 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Madhuvu, A., Rogers, R. L., Gao, W., Bennett, N. M., Randle-Barrett, E. S., Gamble, A. S., O’Halloran, M., Pitman, J., & Morphet, J. (2023) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103843 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Muscle Anatomy Competition: Games Created by Nursing Students
Joseph, M. A., & Natarajan, J. (2021) · Journal of Nursing Education · doi:10.3928/01484834-20210322-13 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Royse, E. A., Pullen, N., Cogswell, A., & Holt, E. A. (2024) · Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education · doi:10.1128/jmbe.00011-24 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Sorte, S. R., Sande, S. V., Rathod, S. B., Vij, V., Gumashta, J., Muthiyan, G. G., & Patil, A. (2024) · Journal of Education and Health Promotion · doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_728_23 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Hillyer, J. M., & Gordon, K. A. (2020) · AJP Advances in Physiology Education · doi:10.1152/advan.00212.2018 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Human anatomy and clinical nursing practice
Ratero, L. R., André, J. C., dos Santos, E. R., Castiglioni, L., Poletti, N. A. A., Sasso, L. S. D. A., & Bertolin, D. C. (2020) · Journal of Nursing Education and Practice · doi:10.5430/jnep.v10n10p13 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Wesselink, R., Patricia McClunie-Trust, & Stewart, K. W. (2024) · Teaching and learning in nursing · doi:10.1016/j.teln.2024.12.004 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Souza, H. C., Neto, J. L. T., & Bravo, D. S. (2016) · Revista Argentina de Anatomía Clínica · doi:10.31051/1852.8023.v8.n2.14555 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Yeeles, J. A., Whiteside, E., Haeusler, C., Donovan, J., & Myer, S. (2024) · Journal of Further and Higher Education · doi:10.1080/0309877x.2024.2410972 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Nuuyoma, V., & Josef, E. (2021) · Africa Journal of Nursing and Midwifery · doi:10.25159/2520-5293/8780 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationWang, Y., Chen, W., Zhang, L., Li, L., Li, L., Ren, Z., & Huang, K. (2019) · Creative Education · doi:10.4236/ce.2019.104051 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
To Use or Not to Use: Supplemental Technology in an Undergraduate Anatomy Lab
Persinger, J., Dunham, S., & Husmann, P. R. (2021) · HAPS Educator · doi:10.21692/haps.2021.030 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Munguiko, C., Ngeno, A., Atukwatse, J., & Museene, S. K. (2025) · Advances in Medical Education and Practice · doi:10.2147/amep.s556809 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Zhao, C., Zhu, J., Liu, J., Zhao, W., & Pang, Y. (2026) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-026-09469-0 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Traditional lecture-based teaching approaches often rely heavily on static diagrams, physical models, and teacher-centered explanations [4].”
Falah, M. F., & Hasanah, S. M. (2026) · Health Policy and Technology · doi:10.1016/j.hlpt.2026.101200
Siagian, N., & Tambunan, E. H. (2026) · International Archives of Medical Sciences and Public Health · doi:10.53806/iamsph.v7i1.1449
- Authors
- Nuuyoma, V., Mukerenge, N. F., & Kuugongelwa, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Namibia (NA)
- Corresponding author
- Nuuyoma, Vistolina
- Venue
- Nurse Education in Practice
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2025-10
- Volume
- 88
- Pages
- 104575
- ISSN
- 1471-5953 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4414826467
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 0.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nurse Education in Practice (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Sigma
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Nursing education and management
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Anatomy and Medical Technology
- Keywords
- anatomy and physiology education, undergraduate nursing students, integration into clinical practice, nursing curriculum reform, learner-centred teaching, educational technology, clinical learning, interdisciplinary teaching, practical assessment
- MeSH terms
- Anatomy, Clinical Competence, Curriculum, Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate, Humans, Physiology, Students, Nursing
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
