Background <p>Self-directed learning (SDL) ability and high-level academic self-efficacy (ASE) are core competencies essential for undergraduate nursing students to navigate the rapidly evolving medical landscape. However, existing research indicates that their SDL and ASE levels generally remain at moderate levels, highlighting an urgent need for enhancement. Given the limitations of traditional teaching models in systematically fostering these competencies, the development of innovative teaching approaches that can both improve learning outcomes and cultivate these two core abilities has emerged as a central challenge in nursing education reform.</p> Purpose <p>This study aimed to design a teaching method that adapts comics into melodrama, and verify its effectiveness in the context of undergraduate nursing students learning the Health Assessment course.</p> Methods <p>A multidisciplinary teaching team was formed to design and implement the teaching method, and adopted a quasi-experimental research design with pre- and post-comparison.This study was implemented in the Spring semester of 2023 academic year in a Chinese university. A convenience cluster sampling method was used to select 109 sophomore undergraduate nursing students as participants. One class was randomly assigned as the experimental group (<i>n</i> = 63), which received the adapted comic-to-scenario teaching method, while the other class served as the control group (<i>n</i> = 63), receiving traditional lecture-based teaching. Questionnaires on Self-directed learning ability, learning engagement, academic self-efficacy, and humanistic care ability were used to measure students’ scores before and after the course. Paired t-tests were conducted for within-group pre- and post-course comparisons, while independent samples t-tests were conducted to analyze the results and evaluate learning outcomes.</p> Results <p>After applying this teaching method, the scores for self-directed learning ability, learning engagement, academic self-efficacy, and humanistic care ability in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group.</p> Conclusion <p>Adapting comics into melodrama as a teaching method has a positive effect on undergraduate nursing students’ learning of Health Assessment courses.</p> Clinical trial number <p>Not applicable.</p>