Use of a modified OSCE to assess nurse practitioner students

Assessment of clinical competence in nurse practitioner programmes has been greatly advanced over the last 10 years by widespread use of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). This article describes a modified OSCE developed in a nurse education department at a specific university within the UK to standardize evaluation of the physical examination skills of nurse practitioner students. Stations comprise procedure stations, which require students to perform a 'whole' examination of the subject, and question stations, which are composed of two forms of viva, involving various cognitive activities. A number of other universities are currently using this modified OSCE as a tool for formative and summative assessment, as a learning resource, and to identify gaps and weaknesses in clinical skills.