Autonomic Stress Response of Nurse Students in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

Abstract

The aim of the present research was to analyze the autonomic stress response of nursing students in a nursing Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE). We analyzed, in 41 s-year nursing degree students (20.1 ± 2.3 years), modifications in heart rate variability (HRV) to monitor the autonomic stress response before, during and after the 18 different scenarios of a complete OSCE. Heart rate mean response of nurse students was consistent with an anticipatory anxiety response at the beginning of the OSCE, showing a sympathetic nervous system activation, but HRV parameters show contradictory results. The most stressful OSCE station was the CPR maneuver, the stress response varying according to the station’s demands.

Analysis of the Objective and Subjective Stress Response of Students and Professors in Practical Nursing Exams and Their Relationship with Academic Performance

“…During the whole clinical practice, where the habituation process was absent, a high sustained sympathetic activity was registered [ 7 ]. The same case scenario was found in nursing students during the performance of an ECOE [ 5 ].…”

“…We also analysed the stress and grade perception of students pre- and post-clinical case; we also measured the difficulty perception at the end of the clinical practice. Stress was measured on a subjective scale from 0 (no stress) to 100 (maximum stress), difficulty perception was measured from 0 (no difficulty) to 100 (maximum difficulty), and academic performance was measured on a 0 to 10 scale [ 5 ].…”

“…Training programs are critical for the acquisition of healthcare professionals’ competencies [ 4 ]. Specifically, future nursing professionals can learn and train their skills and abilities in a safe context without any risk to the patient through practical cases and clinical simulations [ 5 ]. Therefore, in a space resembling reality as much as possible, nursing students can train in many different techniques, communication skills, critical thinking, and teamwork, with the support, surveillance, and the immediate teaching of the professor in charge.…”

“…On the one hand, the student is forced to face unknown and uncontrollable situations, where they must develop the competencies and skills required for their future profession. On the other hand, the professor also perceives these situations as stressors, because they have to adapt different methods regarding the desired goals and identify the difficulty, stress, and motivation that students are experiencing in order to create a better educational stimulus [ 5 ]. This stress is expressed as a high sympathetic activation, and it is modulated by the autonomous nervous system [ 8 ].…”

Autonomic stress response of physiotherapy student in the different scenarios of an objective structured clinical examination

“…Previous research [11] has shown as uncertain and unpredictable environments produce a large anxiogenic response in students that could negatively affect their ability to cope with the acquisition of learning process [11][12][13]. Evaluation context as final degree defence, clinical stays or practical evaluations produce a large stress response of students due to this uncertainty and unpredictability [14][15][16][17][18].…”