The impact of telehealth objective structured clinical evaluations in intraprofessional nursing education: A mixed methods study

Background: Telehealth is an expanding modality of providing care. In 2018, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) released a white paper encouraging the inclusion of telehealth into nurse practitioner education. It is important for nursing students to gain experience with telehealth so that they are prepared to provide care via telehealth. Objectives: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of incorporating telehealth simulation into objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) in the family nurse practitioner (FNP) and bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) programs. Setting: This study was conducted at a public, liberal arts university in a rural area of the Southeast United States. Participants: The FNP and BSN students participated in this study. The FNP program is a hybrid master's degree program, which has a two-year plan of study. The BSN program is a traditional campus-based program, which includes two years of upper-division nursing courses. Methods: This mixed-methods study included a pre- and post-survey design utilizing both quantitative and qualitative measures to evaluate undergraduate and graduate nursing students understanding of and comfort with telehealth and their perceptions of a simulated intradisciplinary telehealth OCSE experience. Results: Students' telehealth knowledge, skills, and confidence were improved after the telehealth OSCE experience. Directed content analysis of the responses revealed three themes: increased knowledge of telehealth, technical difficulties, and teamwork/communication. Conclusions: It is beneficial for both undergraduate and family nurse practitioner students to have exposure to telehealth in their respective curriculums.