Abstract
Background: Pre-registration nursing programmes are mainly an undergraduate degree training in the UK. The Equality Act (2010) directs education towards widening participation, with universities offering inclusive criteria to extend access to all. Ensuring students meet strict fitnessto-practice criteria stipulated by the professional body, however, creates a dichotomy between disability legislation and professional regulation. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) are a method of assessment that requires students to perform clinical assessments and answer questions within standardised conditions and an allotted time. To date few studies have considered the impact of the OSCE on nursing students with dyslexia.
Aim: To explore perceptions and experiences of nursing students with dyslexia who have undertaken the OSCE as a method of assessment.
Methods: Two-phase mixed methods approach was used. A purposive sample of 24 nursing students in year 3 of their course, were approached to participate in an online questionnaire, with 12 responding. Six students participated further in object elicitation interviews, which were analysed using the ‘Framework Analysis’ method (Richie and Spence, 1994).
Findings: There were two streams of findings identified. Firstly participants as unique individuals who experienced both difficulties and success in their learning. In the second stream there were three themes; the impact and the response to the impact of dyslexia on the individual; the OSCE as an assessment process; future recommendations for student support and preparation for the OSCE examination.
Implications for Practice: It offers suggestions on developing the OSCE as an inclusive assessment strategy, promotion of inclusive teaching and learning strategies within nurse education and changes to the theoretical and clinical support currently offered to students with dyslexia on nursing programmes.
Conclusion: It is the first study to consider the OSCE with regard to nursing students with dyslexia and offers an opening for future studies.
Aim: To explore perceptions and experiences of nursing students with dyslexia who have undertaken the OSCE as a method of assessment.
Methods: Two-phase mixed methods approach was used. A purposive sample of 24 nursing students in year 3 of their course, were approached to participate in an online questionnaire, with 12 responding. Six students participated further in object elicitation interviews, which were analysed using the ‘Framework Analysis’ method (Richie and Spence, 1994).
Findings: There were two streams of findings identified. Firstly participants as unique individuals who experienced both difficulties and success in their learning. In the second stream there were three themes; the impact and the response to the impact of dyslexia on the individual; the OSCE as an assessment process; future recommendations for student support and preparation for the OSCE examination.
Implications for Practice: It offers suggestions on developing the OSCE as an inclusive assessment strategy, promotion of inclusive teaching and learning strategies within nurse education and changes to the theoretical and clinical support currently offered to students with dyslexia on nursing programmes.
Conclusion: It is the first study to consider the OSCE with regard to nursing students with dyslexia and offers an opening for future studies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 124 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 13 Sept 2019 |