Clinical Application of Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for Novice Nurses

Cheung, Namyoun; Song, Youngshin

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop and examine the feasibility of OSCE for novice nurses. METHOD: The study was designed using a methodological design. Data were collected from January to February, 2005. Nine stations were developed for the examination. Five minutes was allowed for each station. The examination was administered to 2 groups of novice nurses.
RESULTS
OSCE for clinical performance improvement which consisted of nine 5-minute long stations, was developed. Those stations were tested by 79 beginning nurses who were divided into 2 groups. Reliability ranges for Cronbach's alpha were 0.399~0.811 and the mean value was 0.797. Total mean score for the OSCE was 66.75. Total score for the 2nd group was significantly higher than the 1st group. The nurses were satisfied with the OSCE method and process.
CONCLUSION
The OSCE can be an effective tool for evaluating clinical nursing skills in novice nurse. More reliable and valid stations need to be developed and then repeated evaluation of the nurses can be done.