Assessing comprehensive nursing performance: the objective structured clinical assessment (OSCA). Part 2--Report of...

Part 1 of this paper described the development of an assessment strategy used to measure the clinical performance of student nurses undertaking preparation for practice within the tertiary education sector. The challenge of developing an appropriate technique in assessment to accommodate a comprehensive nursing register was described. Features of the design and implementation were also provided. Part 2 describes an evaluation project developed by the staff and supported by a research grant from the New South Wales (NSW) Nurses Registration Board. The aim of the study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment (OSCA) technique. The research design incorporated the use of triangulated data: student questionnaires, judgments made by a panel of experts and an analysis of the statistical correlation between the students' results in the OSCA and results in other areas of assessment.