The Journal of Medical Education and Development

Introduction: Objective evaluation of clinical and professional competency is one of the most important aspects in medical students' clinical education. Objective structural clinical exam (OSCE) evaluates a large spectrum of technical and basic skills in an experimental setting. The present study was carried out in order to comparing two methods of evaluation, traditional evaluation (TE) and objective structured practical evaluation (OSPE) on the satisfaction of nursing students in Zahedan Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery.

Method: This study is a quasi-experimental research. Thirty five nursing students who selected relevant units in the first trimester of 2011-12 academic year, participated in this study. TE and OSPE methods were both administered. Data were gathered via a 21 items researcher-made questionnaire after determination of its validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 15). Chi square, independent and paired t-tests were used.

Results: The average age was 19.7 ± 2.5. %80 of students satisfied or very satisfied with the OSPE evaluation and only % 2.9 were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with this evaluation method. These rates were changed to %81.5 and %3.7 after announcement of grades respectively. %79.4 of students satisfied or very satisfied with the TE evaluation and %11.8 were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with this evaluation method. These rates were changed to %63 and %11.1 after announcement of grades, respectively. After announcement of grades, the mean score of OSPE satisfaction was higher than TE satisfaction and this differences was statistically significant (P = 0.02).

Conclusion: Nursing students were satisfied with OSPE method in this study, it seems necessary to promote this evaluation method in nursing faculties.