Nursing students’ and lecturers’ perspectives of objective structured clinical examination incorporating simulation

Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been widely and increasingly used since it was developed. Research has shown that it is an effective evaluation tool to assess practical skills (Sloan et al. 1995). In many instances the OSCE process has been adapted to test trainees from different healthcare related disciplines. In nursing education, as presented in this paper, principles of OSCE can also be used in a formative way to enhance skill acquisition through simulation. The aim of this approach to teaching is safely to help students gain more confidence when confronted by technical instruments present in the hospital environment, and to encourage them to reflect on a range of skills and competences they need to acquire. The OSCE stations can be designed in the form of small scenarios where students have to set-up or interact with technical instruments, or communicate with patients. This type of simulation exercise can be varied as a whole and specifically within each station at the same time. The use of this hybrid formative OSCE is being assessed by nursing students and lecturers. The feedback received regarding this teaching method and the results of this study are useful and show that OSCE are favourably perceived.