Objective Structured Clinical Exam-related Psychological Distress and Clinical Performance among Emergency Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: Nursing students frequently experience psychological distress during the high-stakes Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), which may affect their clinical performance. However, there is limited information on the magnitude of this association, especially in emergency nursing education. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between emergency nursing students' clinical performance and psychological distress related to the OSCE. Aim: this study aimed to investigate the association between emergency nursing students' clinical performance and psychological distress related to the OSCE. Methods: a descriptive, correlation research design was used in this study; the sample consisted of 259 nursing students registered in an emergency nursing course. The OSCE performance checklists were used to evaluate clinical performance, while the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to measure psychological discomfort. Results: During the OSCE, 86.9% of students experienced severe state anxiety, and 87.6% of students reported severe anxiety trait, indicating high levels of psychological distress. The majority of students (91.9%) reported feeling moderately stressed. There was a weak but significant negative connection between OSCE performance and perceived stress and anxiety (r = -0.134, p = 0.031; r = -0.165, p = 0.008). Conclusion: Emergency nursing students experience extensive OSCE-related psychological distress, which weakly but significantly correlate with OSCE clinical performance.