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Mental health and learning disability nursing students' perceptions of the usefulness of the objective structured clinical examination to assess their competence in medicine administration
Author(s) -
Hemingway Steve,
Stephenson John,
Roberts Bronwyn,
McCann Terence
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1111/inm.12051
Subject(s) - objective structured clinical examination , competence (human resources) , mental health , perception , medicine , psychology , medical education , nursing , psychiatry , social psychology , neuroscience
The aim of this study was to evaluate mental health and learning disability nursing students' perceptions of the usefulness of the objective structured clinical examination ( OSCE ) in assessing their administration of medicine competence. L earning disability ( n = 24) and mental health ( n = 46) students from a single cohort were invited to evaluate their experience of the OSCE . A 10‐item survey questionnaire was used, comprising open‐ and closed‐response questions. Twelve (50%) learning disability and 32 (69.6%) mental health nursing students participated. The OSCE was rated highly compared to other theoretical assessments; it was also reported as clinically real and as a motivational learning strategy. However, it did not rate as well as clinical practice. Content analysis of written responses identified four themes: (i) benefits of the OSCE ; (ii) suggestions to improve the OSCE ; (iii) concern about the lack of clinical reality of the OSCE ; and (iv) OSCE ‐induced stress. The themes, although repeating some of the positive statistical findings, showed that participants were critical of the university setting as a place to conduct clinical assessment, highlighted OSCE ‐related stress, and questioned the validity of the OSCE as a real‐world assessment. The OSCE has an important role in the development of student nurses' administration of medicine skills. However, it might hinder their performance as a result of the stress of being assessed in a simulated environment.