The study involved 298 students of Nursing at their first year of full-time 1st degree studies at the Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences in the Jagiellonian University Medical College. The study was performed twice at the end of the course in the skills laboratory as part of the subject entitled ‘The Fundamentals of Nursing – classes’ in January (the winter semester) and April (the summer semester) 2013. The course could be credited by means of a shortenedOSCE. The method formatted (shaped) the evaluation of learning outcomes. Due to the limitations of staff and time and its pilot nature, the study took a shortened form. Also some of its assumptions were modified, i.e. a student would draw a ticket with one of the 4 stations, but it would take him/her 15 minutes to do the entire task because the preparatory, proper and cleaning activities making up the performance of a given procedure (nursing, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation) were linked. In accordance with a special list (checklist) tasks were evaluated in terms of knowledge (each station resulted with a response to one of the several questions prepared), technical skills (the first (winter) semester: re-making the bed with the patient in it, arterial blood pressure taking, insulin administration using an insulin pen, inhaling the patient; the second (summer) semester: measuring capillary blood drawn from the patient’s finger and determining the level of blood glucose, inserting an intravenous cannula, preparing and connecting drip infusion, sterile perineum washing) and communication skills. The correctness of each task performed by individual students in simulation conditions was verified by two teachers.
www.tojned.net 69
The study used the method of a diagnostic survey, the technique of survey questionnaire, and a research tool of proprietary evaluation survey questionnaire.
Statistical calculations were performed using Statistica 7.1. For all statistical calculations the assumed level of significance "p" did not exceed the value of .05. Calculations were performed using the chi-square test.
RESULTS
The study group consisted of 294 women and 4 men. The age of respondents ranged between 19 and 25 years of age. 154 students participated in completing the shortened OSCE at the end of winter semester; 144 students took part in the exam in the summer semester.
The respondents were asked if they had previously participated in that type of examination. Almost all participants (98.7%) confirmed that they had never taken part in such an examination.
Those surveyed assessed the suitability of a shortened OSCE in terms of knowledge, practical skills and affective abilities. As seen from the data obtained, 48.0% of the respondents considered the type of examination as partially useful; 42.6% claimed that it is very useful in the verification of theoretical knowledge. When asked whether it has verified their practical skills (manual/technical, organizational skills), more than half of the respondents (51.0%) confirmed its very high usefulness and 43.0% confirmed a partial usefulness of this form of examination. Only 4% of students stated that it was "probably not useful"; 1.0% of the respondents claimed that it was "not useful" at all. Students also assessed their affective/communication skills as part of the shortened OSCE. 44.3% of students confirmed that the examination was partially useful in the verification of such skills and 38.3% claimed that it was very useful (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Usefulnesses of the credit of the type shortened OSCE at an angle of the knowledge, practical skills and attitudes in opinions examined
The respondents were also asked to assess the shortened OSCE in terms of content and organization. Their task was to assess each category on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = low, 5 = high). In terms of "adapting tasks to the curriculum in the skills laboratory", more than half of the students (54.0%) chose the highest value, while only 1.0% of them felt that it was not an important factor and chose 1 point. In the evaluation of the category described as "the clarity of tasks description", 57.7% of respondents chose the value of 5 points, while only 2.3% of them chose 2. Another category being assessed was the "organization of the examination." Almost half of the respondents (43.3%) chose the highest value for organization and 1.7% chose the lowest value. The evaluation also related to the category of "management of examination time". Nearly 70.0% of the respondents considered that as an important factor and awarded it 5 and 4 points (34.2% and 33.2%, respectively). Almost half of the students (48.7%) assigned the maximum value to the category described as "the method of evaluation." The method was of little importance only to 0.7% of respondents. The final factor to be evaluated was the category related to "the atmosphere during the examination". As many as 53% of respondents awarded the highest value to that category, while only 3.7% of them chose the lowest value.
As many as 75.4% of the students confirmed that the classification of a shortened OSCE encourages them to systematically pursue further education; 15.2% of them felt that it strongly motivates them to develop further, and only 8.0% of the respondents would refrain from answering the question.
Those surveyed had a chance to suggest a better course of a shortened OSCE. The vast majority of the respondents (85.9%) did not provide any suggestions, while 12.8% indicated the following suggestions or difficulties
42,6% 48% 7,7% 1,7% 51% 43% 4% 2% 38,3% 44,3% 11,7% 5,7%
very usefulness partial usefulness probably not useful not useful knowledge practical skills affective abilities
www.tojned.net 70
The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education Volume 4, Issue 1
encountered during the examination: