Abstract
Introduction: Evaluation is a fundamental component of the educational process, and a reliable mechanism to gauge student learning levels. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) stands out as an effective evaluation tool for assessing the clinical performance of medical professionals. This study investigates the attitudes of nursing and midwifery students at Azad University of Bojnord concerning the OSCE exam.
Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 163 undergraduate nursing and midwifery students at the Azad University of Bojnord in the second semester of 1402. All students who had participated in the OSCE completed a questionnaire that included three sections: personal characteristics, overall evaluation, and the method of conducting the exam at the faculty. The data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software and descriptive statistical tests, including frequency distribution tables, means, and standard deviations.The significance level in all tests was considered to be less than 0.05
Findings: Among the participants, 82.2% were female, 82% were single,60% resided in dormitories and 41.1% midwifery students and 58.9% nursing students. On the overall structure of the exam, the statement "knowing the purposes of clinical knowledge assessment using the OSCE method" received the highest positive score of 627, while "OSCE assessment does not increase students' stress" scored the lowest at 355. In terms of implementation, "the appropriateness of the OSCE location" garnered a high score of 595, whereas "the adequacy of the time allocated to each station" rated the lowest at 469. Students demonstrated a positive attitude towards the exam's overall structure with an average score of 7146 and towards its execution with a score of 3905.
Conclusion: The positive attitudes of students indicate that the OSCE can be an appropriate evaluation tool that enhances student learning and clinical competence. The results can be used to implement and further improve the OSCE in education."
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