Objective structured clinical examination vs traditional clinical examination to evaluate students' clinical competence: A systematic review of nursing faculty and students' perceptions and experiences.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of clinical competence of nursing students is an essential requirement in professional nursing education. This article summarizes the current published evidence indicating the nursing faculty and students' perceptions and experiences on benefits of OSCE over TCE. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. Electronic databases including Scopus, Medline, Science Direct, CINAHL, EBSCO, PsychINFO, and Pubmed Central were used to identify relevant articles. The studies published between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2020 and fourteen full-text articles that met all the inclusion criteria were included in the review. RESULTS: The review identified five themes namely: a) Student's perception of OSCE; b) student's satisfaction regarding OSCE as an examination approach; c) students' perception of TCE as an examination approach; d) student's level of stress and anxiety towards OSCE vs TCE; and e) faculty member's perception and experience of OSCE. CONCLUSION: We conclude that OSCE is a more credible assessment format to evaluate the clinical competence of undergraduate nursing students compared to the TCE method.

Knowledge and readiness for inter professional education and collaborative practice among undergraduate nursing students in a Middle Eastern country - A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Inter Professional Education and Collaboration (IPEC) is grounded on mutual respect, enhances collaborative practice, and increases satisfaction among health care professionals. PURPOSE: The study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and readiness for IPEC among nursing students. METHODS: The student's level of knowledge was assessed using a 20 item questionnaire while their readiness for IPEC was measured using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) comprising 19 items. A total of 125 nursing students participated in the study and data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 DISCUSSION: The mean level of knowledge was 44.41 with SD of 4.72. The mean readiness score was 79.09 with the SD of 11.77. There is no significant association between the knowledge and readiness of nursing students regarding IPEC and their demographic variables at 0.05 confidence level. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of the students had moderately adequate knowledge about IPEC and high level of readiness towards IPEC. This implies that when appropriately implemented, the students will reap the benefits of IPEC, which has the potential to improve their ability to provide holistic nursing care to their patients.