Objective Structured Clinical Examinations as a Method of Competency Evaluation in a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Nursing Education
• Clinical Skills Assessment

Background:

• Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are recognized as effective instructional and evaluation tools.
• The application of OSCEs for evaluation in nurse practitioner (NP) programs requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and applicability of implementing OSCEs for formative evaluation within a primary care NP program.
• To gather student feedback on their experience with OSCEs.

Main Methods:

• A pilot project was conducted to evaluate the implementation of an educational intervention.
• Two validated OSCE scenarios utilizing standardized patients were employed.

Main Results:

• Mean scores were calculated for subcategories and global ratings within the OSCE.
• Strong internal correlations were observed within scenarios, but not between them.
• Moderate intraclass correlation coefficients were achieved.
• Student feedback indicated overwhelmingly positive perceptions of competence and confidence.

Conclusions:

• The pilot OSCE program demonstrated successful implementation.
• OSCEs are a viable method for formative evaluation in primary care NP education.