A Mental Health Objective Structured Clinical Examination to Evaluate Undergraduate Nursing Students' Clinical Competence

Cherrill Stockmann; Theresa Adelman-Mullally; Joanna Willett

doi:10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001351

A Mental Health Objective Structured Clinical Examination to Evaluate Undergraduate Nursing Students' Clinical Competence

Nurs Educ Perspect. 2024 Nov 20. doi: 10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001351. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Cherrill Stockmann¹, Theresa Adelman-Mullally, Joanna Willett

Affiliation

¹ About the Authors Cherrill Stockmann, PhD, RN, is associate professor, Illinois State University Mennonite College of Nursing, Normal, Illinois. Theresa Adelman-Mullally, PhD, RN, CNE, is assistant professor, and Joanna Willett, MSN, RN, CNE, CEN, is nursing simulation lab director, Illinois State University Mennonite College of Nursing. This research was supported by a grant from Illinois State University. For more information, contact Dr. Stockmann at cistock@ilstu.edu.

PMID: 39565201
DOI: 10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001351

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometrics of a 12-station mental health Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to evaluate the clinical competence of undergraduate nursing students. A convenience sample of 65 first-semester senior-level undergraduate students participated. Content validities for the OSCE checklist and stations were established. Interrater reliability was statistically significant. Correlations between the OSCE and final course exam and grade were not statistically significant. Students described the OSCE as a beneficial learning experience but felt unprepared. This OSCE was initially established as a reliable, valid tool to objectively assess nursing competence.