Developing, Implementing, and Utilizing evaluative Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) in a distance education Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Program

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are increasingly being utilized in APRN distance educational programs to evaluate competency for safe clinical practice.  The faculty of the Family, AGAC, Pediatric Primary Care, and Nurse Midwifery programs have integrated evaluative OSCEs into the curriculum to more effectively and efficiently evaluate student assessment, diagnostic reasoning, and clinical management skills.  The workshop will chronicle the initial planning, development, implementation, utilization, and evaluation of integrating OSCEs into the curriculum across all programs.  Discussion will include how to: 1) develop a standardized patient program, 2) write OSCE cases, 3) prepare students , 4) develop faculty scoring criteria, and 5) debrief students after their OSCE encounter.  Resources, methods, and costs associated with initiating and implementing OSCEs will be discussed.  The adoption of OSCEs has allowed faculty to observe APRN students in a controlled environment and provide immediate feedback on their clinical performance.  Faculty will share lessons learned from three and a half years of experiences with OSCEs and discuss strategies for successful implementation and utilization of evaluative OSCEs in an APRN distance education program.