EFFECTIVENESS OF OBJECTIVE STRUCTURED CLINICAL EXAMINATION(OSCE) AS A METHOD OF ASSESSMENT UPON SELECTED CLINICAL COMPONENTS IN CHILD HEALTH NURSING AND TO IDENTIFY THE PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS REGARDING OSCE IN SELECTED NURSING COLLEGES, PONDICHERRY

Pilot study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of objective structured clinical examination as a method of assessment upon selected clinical components in child health nursing and to identify the perception of students regarding OSCE in selected nursing colleges, Pondicherry with 40 samples who were selected randomly. Consent obtained from each sample before the data collection. The OSCE stations were established. The pretest and post test conducted with the same tool. The tool reliability assessed by split half method using spearman brown’s formula. The ‘r’ value obtained for the OSCE stations were 0.9. The reliability of the students’ perception checklist was assessed by inter-rater reliability using Pearson correlation coefficient. The ‘r’ value obtained was 0.8.

Assessment of clinical competence is an integral requirement of health professional education. OSCE was introduced in 1975 as a standardized tool for objectively assessing clinical competencies. A Benchmark for clinical skills [Bartfay, et al 2004] .The traditional tool for assessment of nursing students has mainly consisted of written exams, bedside viva and clinical case presentations. These have focused on the 'knows' and 'knows how' aspects. ie. The focus has been on the base of the Miller's pyramid of competence. These methods have drawn a lot of criticism due to its lack of validity and reliability.

Statement Of The Problem:-
Assess the effectiveness of objective structured clinical examination as a method of assessment upon selected clinical components in child health nursing and to identify the perception of students regarding OSCE in selected nursing colleges, Pondicherry Objectives:-To test the reliability -feasibility of the tool and objective structured clinical examination on selected clinical components in child health nursing and to identify the perception of students regarding OSCE in selected nursing colleges, Pondicherry.

Population:-
The population for the present study comprised of the nursing students from various nursing colleges in puducherry. It includes the B.sc (N) and DGNM students who have child health nursing as one of their study subject in the curriculum at the time of data collection. Child health Nursing is included in the III year B.sc (N) and III year DGNM curriculum. Totally there were around 600 nursing students from the III year is available from seven Nursing colleges in puducherry. Sampling techniques:-Samples were selected by Simple random sampling technique by computer generated random numbers.
Variables:-Dependent Variable:-It is the clinical competence of nursing students in selected child health nursing procedures and their perception about OSCE method of examination.

Independent Variable:-
It is the effectiveness of OSCE on selected clinical components in child health nursing.

Extraneous variable:-
It includes the Age, sex, Religion, year of study, course of study, study institution, Exposure to information on OSCE and source of information. Part II:-checklist was used to assess the skill of students in these OSCE stations.

Sampling criteria:-
Part III:-It consists of perception checklist to assess the perception of students regarding OSCE.

Results And Discussion:-
The reliability of the data collection tools was assessed indicates that the 'r' value obtained for the OSCE stations was 0.9. The reliability of the students perception checklist was assessed by inter-rator reliability using Pearson correlation coefficient. The 'r' value obtained was 0.8. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics mean and standard deviation, inferential statistics unpaired t test to test the effectiveness of OSCE method. Table 1:-Showed that distribution of samples in experimental and control group based on demographic variables. Homogeneity was maintained between the experimental and control group. Table 2:-Showed that distribution of samples based on the skill score between the pretest and post test among experimental group indicates that the OSCE was effective in improving the nursing care skills. Table 3:-Showed that distribution of samples based on the skill score between the pretest and post test among control group indicates that the OSCE was effective in improving the nursing care skills. Table 4:-Showed that OSCE checklist and perception checklist tool was most reliable. Table 5:-Showed that there is a significant increase in the skill performance between the pretest and post test among experimental group indicates that the OSCE was effective in improving the nursing care skills.

Discussion:-
The main focus of this study was to test the reliability and feasibility of the data collection tools and intervention and its acceptability and effectiveness in improving the skill and perception about OSCE. The results indicated that tools used were highly reliable.
The pilot study also showed that the sampling technique, set inclusion and exclusion criteria were appropriate for sample selection. The method of administering the OSCE techniques, and the proposed analytical measures were suitable for the study. The comparison between the groups showed that there was a statistical significance. The overall plan was effective, feasible and practicable to be applied in the main study.

Conclusion:-
The pilot study on the effectiveness of OSCE as an evaluative method revealed that the data collection tools were reliable, feasible and appropriate to use for the samples in the main study and the OSCE method is effective in improving the skill performance of nursing students regarding the selected child health nursing procedures.