title: The objective structured clinical examination within intensive care nursing education.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective structured clinical examination is commonly referred to as an 'OSCE' and is a way of assessing a student's competency with clinical skills. The OSCE involves the student demonstrating a skill during a simulated clinical situation in a controlled environment instead of using real patients in the practice setting. Post-registered nursing courses are now beginning to use the OSCE as a form of summative assessment either as replacement for or in addition to skills assessed by a mentor in practice.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper aims to reflect back on a recent experience of introducing an OSCE into a post-registered, degree level intensive care nursing programme.
  
  
  METHODS
  The process of reflection will be used throughout the analysis following the Six Thinking Hats tool.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Organizing and implementing an OSCE for an intensive care nursing programme required a great deal of preparation and time of the teacher but also offered various benefits and advantages compared with other forms of assessment. Disadvantages and limitations of the OSCE are also identified in this article along with recommendations and practical advice for other teachers, examiners and students participating in OSCEs.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Brighton, Westlain House, Village Way, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9PH, UK. H.Baid@brighton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baid
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000451:nursing*; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000592:standards; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000592:standards; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D006113:United Kingdom