Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice

Background: Contemporary midwifery practice needs a rigorous and standardised assessment of practical skills, and knowledge to ensure that safety is maintained for both women and neonates before, during and after childbirth. Aim: To evaluate the use of Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) for Objective St...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mitchell, M., Jeffrey, C., Henderson, A., Glover, P., Nulty, D., Kelly, Michelle, Groves, M., Knight, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier BV 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12118
_version_ 1848747989150990336
author Mitchell, M.
Jeffrey, C.
Henderson, A.
Glover, P.
Nulty, D.
Kelly, Michelle
Groves, M.
Knight, S.
author_facet Mitchell, M.
Jeffrey, C.
Henderson, A.
Glover, P.
Nulty, D.
Kelly, Michelle
Groves, M.
Knight, S.
author_sort Mitchell, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Contemporary midwifery practice needs a rigorous and standardised assessment of practical skills, and knowledge to ensure that safety is maintained for both women and neonates before, during and after childbirth. Aim: To evaluate the use of Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) as a standardised tool to develop clinical competence of Bachelor of Midwifery students. Method: A pragmatic mixed method approach with surveys, focus groups and interviews was used to evaluate the OSCEs for first year students. Quantitative and qualitative data were combined to understand student and academic perceptions of students’ confidence for clinical practice following the OSCE. Findings: Thirty-four students responded to surveys (response rate 94%); and 13 participated in focus groups. Two academic lecturers participated in an interview (100%). Two main themes emerged (1) the OSCEs improved student confidence (2) the OSCEs were relevant and prepared students for practice. Most students indicated that they practised for the OSCE using an integrated approach (70%), and that this assisted them in their approach to the assessment of the neonate or post-partum mother. Conclusion: The use of BPGs to ensure that OSCEs focus on important aspects of knowledge and practice helped students to learn and to perform well. Students’ confidence in their ability for the imminent professional experience placement was high. OSCEs designed with the BPGs should be implemented broadly across midwifery education to enhance students’ competence and provide rigorous meaningful assessment.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T06:57:54Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-12118
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T06:57:54Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Elsevier BV
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-121182017-09-13T14:58:12Z Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice Mitchell, M. Jeffrey, C. Henderson, A. Glover, P. Nulty, D. Kelly, Michelle Groves, M. Knight, S. Background: Contemporary midwifery practice needs a rigorous and standardised assessment of practical skills, and knowledge to ensure that safety is maintained for both women and neonates before, during and after childbirth. Aim: To evaluate the use of Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) as a standardised tool to develop clinical competence of Bachelor of Midwifery students. Method: A pragmatic mixed method approach with surveys, focus groups and interviews was used to evaluate the OSCEs for first year students. Quantitative and qualitative data were combined to understand student and academic perceptions of students’ confidence for clinical practice following the OSCE. Findings: Thirty-four students responded to surveys (response rate 94%); and 13 participated in focus groups. Two academic lecturers participated in an interview (100%). Two main themes emerged (1) the OSCEs improved student confidence (2) the OSCEs were relevant and prepared students for practice. Most students indicated that they practised for the OSCE using an integrated approach (70%), and that this assisted them in their approach to the assessment of the neonate or post-partum mother. Conclusion: The use of BPGs to ensure that OSCEs focus on important aspects of knowledge and practice helped students to learn and to perform well. Students’ confidence in their ability for the imminent professional experience placement was high. OSCEs designed with the BPGs should be implemented broadly across midwifery education to enhance students’ competence and provide rigorous meaningful assessment. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12118 10.1016/j.wombi.2013.12.002 Elsevier BV restricted
spellingShingle Mitchell, M.
Jeffrey, C.
Henderson, A.
Glover, P.
Nulty, D.
Kelly, Michelle
Groves, M.
Knight, S.
Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice
title Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice
title_full Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice
title_fullStr Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice
title_full_unstemmed Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice
title_short Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Bachelor of Midwifery students’ preparation for practice
title_sort using an objective structured clinical examination for bachelor of midwifery students’ preparation for practice
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12118