Abstract:

Introduction: Nursing education consists of theoretical and practical courses. Practical courses provide opportunity for student to convert their theoretical knowledge to psychomotor abilities. More than 50% of nursing and midwifery curriculum in two and four year programs are designed for practical activities. Evaluation is one of the most important issues in nursing education. Application of precise evaluation methods can identify the strength and weakness of the educational program and help to find suitable strategies to improve it.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two methods of evaluation: Objective structured practical examination (OSPE) and Traditional Practical Examination (TPE) with students' satisfaction in Shahid Beheshti faculty of nursing and midwifery.

Methods: This is a quasi – experimental study and 67 nursing, midwifery and operating room students participated. Sampling was performed according to census method and students were divided in two groups. 33 students were evaluated by objective structured practical examination (OSPE) and 34 students were evaluated by traditional practical examination method (TPE). In order to measure the level of students' satisfaction with the evaluation methods, a 16 item self administered questionnaire based on Likert scale were completed at the end of each evaluation. Data was analyzed by SPSS soft wear using appropriate statistical test.

Results: The most desirable statement of traditional practical examination group was the item of "This method of evaluation decreases stress and anxiety" and the most satisfying statement of Objective Structured Practical Examination group was the item of "In this evaluation method chance doesn’t interfere". Over all 60.6 percent of students who were evaluated by OSPE method and 14.7 percent of students who were evaluated by TPE method were satisfied with the evaluation (P< 0/005).

Conclusion: It is concluded that Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) can evaluate more practical skills and gain more students’ satisfaction.

Keywords: Nursing Education, Nursing students, Personal Satisfaction, Practical evaluation