Objective: Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) is one of the most important ways to evaluate the skills of nursing students. This study was conducted to explore the stakeholders' perceptions of the OSCE.
Materials and methods: This qualitative research was conducted using the conventional content analysis method in 2022. The participants included students, instructors and organizers of the OSCE in Khorramabad Nursing School. The sampling method was purpose-based. The data of 18 interviews and two focus group sessions were analyzed based on the method proposed by Lundman and Graneheim.
Results: By analyzing the data, 260 initial codes were extracted, which were divided into three main categories. 1- Opportunities (the subcategories: simulation the clinical environment, creation learning opportunities, changes in teachers' teaching methods), 2-Challenges (the subcategories: anxiety during Conducting the exam, the fatigue of the beneficiaries, and the cost of the exam), and 3- Requirements (the subcategories: placing simple stations at the beginning of the exam, using clinical instructors in the exam, designing the OSCE based on the curriculum of clinical courses, pay attention to the security of the exam, adapting the space for the exam, holding an OSCE at the end of each clinical course, allocating more time to each station, holding a related workshop before the exam, and making professors more familiar to conducting the OSCE.
Findings: Holding the OSCE despite its many advantages; brings various challenges. It is necessary for the organizers to pay special attention to the requirements in order to strengthen the OSCE and reduce its challenges.