Introduction of Undergraduate Nursing Students to an Objective Structured Clinical Examination

Background: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is used increasingly in nursing education. The purpose of this article is to report on the qualitative evaluation of the first implementation of a medication administration OSCE within an Australian school of nursing. Method: A two-stage data gathering strategy was undertaken. The first stage was to survey participants' pre-OSCE and the second stage involved surveying the same participants' immediately post-OSCE. A constant comparison analysis method was used. Results: The first stage data analysis (pre-OSCE) were classified into three themes: (a) Student Anxiety, (b) Student Preparedness, and (c) The Effectiveness of This Style of Assessment. The three key themes from the second stage (post-OSCE) analysis were: (a) Feelings Toward the OSCE, (b) Assessor Interaction, and (c) The OSCE Environment. Conclusion: Although they found it stressful, the participants valued the OSCE experience. The OSCE gave the students confidence in their capabilities of medication management.