The process of changing the final assessment of students in the Intensive Care Unit from the traditional approach to a practical test with an objective structure

Clinical education is a pivotal element of nursing. A clinical test with objective structure evaluates a range of technical and fundamental skills in empirical situations. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which clinical educational goals were achieved in order to provide proper and in-place care to undergraduate students in nursing care.
This is a half-experimental pilot study. The research units were 12 Master's students of nursing care in the second half of 2017. Both practical appraisal methods with objective and traditional structure were evaluated at the end of the course. Data were collected through a questionnaire of satisfaction and a checklist of clinical questionnaires after confirmation of validity and reliability. The final score and student satisfaction were compared based on the score obtained in two ways.
87% of students were satisfied with the practical evaluation method with objective structure. Students were more satisfied with ASEP method than traditional method. But the mean scores of students in the traditional method were higher than those in ASEP method, 17.22 to 16.27, respectively.
Considering the satisfaction of nursing students with practical evaluation method with objective structure in this study, its application in nursing schools is necessary.