The development of a six-station OSCE for evaluating the clinical competency of the student nurses before graduation: A validity and reliability analysis.

BACKGROUND: Assessing clinical competency in undergraduate nursing students is essential before they enter clinical practice. The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is widely used and is part of clinical competency assessment. Aim The aim of this study was to develop and validate a six-station OSCE for evaluating the clinical competency of the student nurses before graduation. METHODS: One-group longitudinal observational study. An OSCE of 6 stations of 10 min each was adopted. Blueprint setting, checklist development, and standard patient and examiner training were conducted. The mean, standard deviation, item scale (item-total correlation) and comparisons of extreme groups for item analysis. The inter-coder of examiners and inter-case of students were used to test reliability. Content Validity and concurrent validity were used to evaluate validity of OSCE. RESULTS: One hundred nursing students participated in this study. The mean OSCE score of students who passed the registered nurses' examination was significantly higher than that of students who failed. Significant differences in OSCE score between students who remain versus left clinical job were observed at 3, 6 and 9 months after graduation. CONCLUSION: The OSCE is predictable method for assessing undergraduate students' first year clinical retention.