Student Evaluation of an OSCE in Community Health Nursing Clinical Course at Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University

Abstract

Background:-The Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) is a comprehensive, structured and consistent approach for assessing aspects of the student's clinical competence with maintenance of high objectivity. Aim of the study: to assess student evaluation of an OSCE in community health nursing clinical course at Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University. Materials and methods:-Study Design: A descriptive cross section study design was used for the study. Study setting: The study was conducted in Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University. Sample: A non probability convenient sample of (151) nursing students who completed their community health nursing OSCE examination. Tool of data collection: a self administered questionnaire sheet was used including the following parts:-Part 1: socio-demographic characteristic of the students. Part 2: Pierre et al., 2004 OSCE evaluation questionnaire which was adapted in this study. It is divided into 4 sections which contain32 items. Only 29 items of Pierre et al., 2004 questionnaire were used in this study and few items were modified to give a clear meaning in Arabic version. Results:-OSCE was considered as a fair examination method by 78.1% of students and 58% of them felt that it provides a true measure of essential clinical skills. Nearly two thirds (64.2%) of the studied students reported that, OSCE is less stressful than other exams, still one third of them (33.8%) felt that the exam was very stressful. Conclusion: OSCE is a realistic assessment for the community health nursing clinical course. It could assess a wide range of learned materials; it is a fair exam and covered a wide range of knowledge. Recommendation: the present study recommended that, OSCE should be continued to use as a method of evaluating clinical practice in a combination with traditional method.