Differences between students and professors in difficulty, stress and performance in a nursing Objective Structured...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Nursing Education
• Clinical Skills Assessment

Background:

• Clinical practices are crucial for nursing education, involving both student learning and professor evaluation.
• Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are standardized tools used to assess clinical skills in nursing.
• Perceptions of difficulty, stress, and academic performance can differ between students and educators during these assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze factors influencing student learning and professor evaluation during clinical practices.
• To compare student and professor perceptions of difficulty, stress, and academic performance in a nursing OSCE.

Main Methods:

• A comparative analysis was conducted on 41 final-year nursing students and 21 nursing professors.
• Perceptions were assessed across various OSCE stations: BP+EKG, venipuncture, CPR, nutritional assessment, respiratory assessment, mobilization, and interprofessional scenario.
• Statistical analysis was employed to identify significant differences in perceptions.

Main Results:

• Professors reported higher perceived difficulty in venipuncture, CPR, and nutritional assessment compared to students.
• Professors perceived higher academic performance across most OSCE stations, except for nutritional assessment.
• Students experienced higher stress in venipuncture, respiratory assessment, mobilization, and interprofessional scenarios.

Conclusions:

• Significant discrepancies exist between nursing students' and professors' perceptions of difficulty, stress, and academic performance during OSCEs.
• Understanding these differing perceptions is vital for optimizing the clinical learning and evaluation process in nursing education.
• The findings highlight the need for tailored approaches to address specific challenges in different OSCE stations for both students and educators.