NMC OSCE Etiquette – Expectations
You may be in intense preparation for your upcoming NMC OSCE exam. Do you know what do NMC expect from you as your professional behavior during the OSCE exam? Confused, in this article we will go through the behavior/etiquette NMC is expecting from you during the course of your exam.
Etiquette for NMC OSCE 2022
Etiquette for NMC OSCE can be explained under four headings. They are
A. Approaching the patient/manikin
– Introduce yourself and explain or clarify the purpose of the nursing or midwifery encounter.
– Check what the patient wants you to call them.
– Be polite, respectful, non-judgemental and maintain the patient’s dignity.
– Be empathic and acknowledge the patient’s emotions or concerns and show sensitivity to any discomfort.
– Ensure you gain consent from the patient prior to undertaking any procedures.
– Be sensitive to personal space, stand or sit at an appropriate distance from the actor/manikin and be aware of their body language. You are too close if the actor moves back or recoils.
– Treat a manikin as you would a real patient.
B. Explaining and advising
– Establish what the patient already knows and/or wants to know.
– Explain clearly what you are going to do and why, so that the patient can understand.
– Remember to always check if the patient has any questions and understands.
– Offer appropriate reassurance.
– Do not alarm the patient but you must be able to explain the need for urgent action if it is required.
– Do not routinely over-simplify names for parts of the body. It is reasonable to expect that most people will know common body names such as ‘bladder’, ‘ovary’, ‘womb’ and ‘vein’. If you doubt a patient’s understanding, check and alter your communication to meet their individual needs.
– Treat the manikin as you would a real person.
C. Involving the patient in management
– Respect the patient’s autonomy and help them to make a decision based on available evidence based information.
– Explain information and its implications so that the patient can make an informed choice about their care.
– Check the patient’s understanding and feelings about the proposed nursing or midwifery interventions. They may not always agree with your proposed plan of care.
– Treat the manikin as you would a real person.
D. Nursing or midwifery assessment
– You should be able to undertake an accurate nursing or midwifery assessment and develop a plan of care.
– Identify the patient’s nursing or midwifery care needs accurately.
– Listen attentively to the patient’s problems and concerns.
– Use clear language and questions at a comfortable pace.
– Clarify and check information and summarize understanding.
– Be able to plan safe and effective person-centered care based on your nursing or midwifery assessment and evidence-based best practice.
Conclusion
Your behaviour at the NMC OSCE should be in accordance with the NMC CODE. Basically, you should not act as a machine which spits prerecorded information. When you are doing procedure or assessment, consider the maniqinn/actor as a human being and act like what you will do in a real nursing scenario. Even if you forgets something but recalls during the procedure, accept your mistake and state what you should do ideally.