OSCE Guidance Notes

Introduction

This blog contains important guidance on the second part of the NEBDN National Diploma in Dental Nursing examination. Apart from my lecture in the classes, I am hoping this will help you to prepare for the Diploma OSCE assessment should therefore read this document in full.
The NEBDN National Diploma in Dental Nursing examination is split into two parts. The first part consists of a written paper, which candidates need to complete successfully to move on to the practical assessments.
The second part of the examination consists of a number of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) and is designed to assess the candidate’s clinical skills and competencies. Professional appearance and behavior will be assessed during the OSCEs, so it is important that you should understand how you will be assessed on the day.

OSCE Practical Assessment

The OSCE assessment is designed to assess the candidate’s skills, competencies, and practical application of knowledge of various clinical situations.
The OSCE assessment will consist of a circuit of around 16 OSCE stations and each station will last approximately five minutes. Two of the stations will be rest stations where the candidate will be provided with refreshments. A candidate may begin or end their OSCE circuit at a rest station.
At each station the candidate will be required to undertake either a practical or a paper-based task. These tasks are linked to a competency within one or more of the four domains of the NEBDN Diploma Curriculum. A typical OSCE station consists of a clinical vignette and instructions for the candidate to complete the task. Candidates will have two minutes to read instructions describing the required task before entering the OSCE station.
Each OSCE station will include one Examiner whose role is to assess the candidate carrying out the task. Examiners will be observing and completing a set Mark Sheet as the candidate performs the OSCE. Examiners will not enter into dialogue with candidates but will ask for the candidate’s name and number. Candidates are allowed to describe their actions if they so desire.
OSCE stations may include an Actor if required for the task and one or more observers for Quality Assurance purposes. Any observers will be merely looking at the process of the OSCE and will therefore have no impact on the marking of a candidate.
If a candidate completes the task within the five minutes allowed they will be asked to sit outside the station until it is time to move to the next station.
You will also be given a handbook containing copies of the OSCE instructions during the candidate briefing prior to the examination. You will be given time to read through each of the instructions but will not be able to discuss the content with other students. The handbook must be returned to an Examiner prior to starting your OSCEs.

I will try to explain an example of a specimen OSCE station.................

Specimen OSCE Station - Oral health advice (partial denture)

Candidate instructions :

This patient has just been fitted with his/her first partial denture. Please give them appropriate oral health advice, particularly with regard to oral hygiene, wearing and cleaning the denture.

An Examiner will observe you and award marks on your competency. The Examiner will not interact with you while you are undertaking your task.

Patient notes:

You have recently had a number of teeth removed and a partial denture has been made to replace them. The dentist has just fitted your new partial denture and has asked the dental nurse to advise you about wearing and cleaning it. You do not have any particular concerns and will follow the advice given as long as you can clearly understand what you are being told (e.g. no technical jargon etc). The candidate should check that you understand the advice and ask if you have any questions. Unless there is something that you do not understand, you will not have any questions. However, if something is unclear then you should ask for clarification and an explanation. At the end of the encounter, please give your assessment of the candidate on form below. The examiner will also assess the candidate, but using different (technical) criteria. The candidate will probably complete this task without needing any prompting, if they are hesitant or nervous you may use any of the following prompts if necessary (but please do not lead the candidate – use prompts only if they stuck):
· “Do I have to take it out at night?”
· “Do I need to take it out of my mouth to clean it?”
· “What about soaking the denture overnight in Steradent or something similar?”
· “Can you show me how to clean the denture?”

Examiner notes

Please assess the candidates as they give oral health advice to a patient who has just been fitted for the first time with partial dentures.

Different weightings will be applied to different parts of the task, but this should not influence your ratings. ‘Above standard’ ratings are not available for some of the actions on the mark sheet. If a candidate needs a prompt from the patient, then they cannot score higher than ‘just below standard’ for that particular action.

Please also give a global mark to indicate whether you consider each candidate’s overall performance to have been above standard, meeting the standard, just below standard, or well below the standard.

You should greet the candidate on arrival and say ‘goodbye’ or ‘thank you’ at the end. You should not say anything else to the candidates. If prompts are needed they should come from the patient, who has been briefed about what to say. In particular, you should not ask candidates any questions.

Candidates have been given the following instructions:

This patient has just been fitted with his/her first partial denture. Please give them appropriate oral health advice, particularly with regard to oral hygiene, wearing and cleaning the denture.

The patient has been given the following instructions:

You have recently had a number of teeth removed and a partial denture has been made to replace them. The dentist has just fitted your new partial denture and has asked the dental nurse to advise you about wearing and cleaning it. You do not have any particular concerns and will follow the advice given as long as you can clearly understand what you are being told (e.g. no technical jargon etc). The candidate should check that you understand the advice and ask if you have any questions. Unless there is something that you do not understand, you will not have any questions, just say “no, I understand thank you”. However, if something is unclear then you should ask for clarification and an explanation.

At the end of the encounter, please give your assessment of the candidate on the form below. The examiner will also assess the candidate, but using different (technical) criteria. The candidate will probably complete this task without needing any prompting, but if they are hesitant or nervous you may use any of the following prompts if necessary (but please do not lead the candidate – use prompts only if they are stuck):
· “Do I have to take it out at night?”
· “Do I need to take it out of my mouth to clean it?”
· “What about soaking the denture overnight in Steradent or something similar?”
· “Can you show me how to clean the denture?”