Mock Oral Board Examination in Nurse Anesthesia Education

Abstract

Background: Despite its widespread use in anesthesia residency training, mock oral board examinations (MOBEs) are not included in the pedagogy of most nurse anesthesia programs (NAPs). A small-scale study was conducted to assess the use of MOBEs in this setting. Method: The investigational cohort consisted of 10 second-year students in a master's program in nurse anesthesia. MOBEs were scored according to a common rubric, and final scores were reconciled by raters. Responses from pretest and posttest questionnaires, as well as scoring data, were analyzed. Results: MOBEs were administered in a problem-free manner to nurse anesthesia students and was perceived by these students as a valuable addition to their curriculum. There was pass–fail agreement among the raters related to clinical analysis, fund of knowledge, and communication skills, and the scoring was characterized by elements of internal consistency. Conclusion: MOBEs are feasible in an NAP, and well accepted by students. MOBEs have significant evaluative potential in this setting. [ J Nurs Educ . 2021;60(4):229–234.]

Cognitive competence and curriculum content in nurse anesthesia training: a small-scale comparative study

“…MOBEs employed with the two cohorts were nearly identical, with only minor modi cations, some of which were related to health and safety considerations stemming from the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The MN cohort study has been previously reported [17]; therefore, the description of methods is limited, and methodological differences between the MN and DNP MOBE studies are highlighted.…”

“…By highlighting areas needing improvement, benchmark examinations are useful to de ne educational targets and objectives and allow discovery of approaches to ensure future excellence [25]. The MOBE used in this study originally was designed for precisely these purposes and successfully identi ed three areas of underperformance involving critical thinking in MN NAP students [17]. As a result, modi cations were implemented in the new DNP NAP curriculum designed to address these areas of performance, and the signi cantly improved performance of the current DNP cohort with MOBE likely represents a validation of its formative function.…”

“…For raters, depending on the nature of the subset task, needs improvement was de ned as performing the task poorly or < 50% of the time; marginal pass was de ned as performing the task adequately or between 50-100% of the time; and pass was de ned as performing the task well or 100% of the time. Pre-examination rater consensus review of the examinations was performed in the same manner in each of the two examinations [17].…”

“…Simulation-based examination can provide similar cognitive evaluation but there are complexities to testing critical thinking in a high-delity environment where the primary goal is to "show(s) how" rather than to demonstrate "know(s) how" [15,16]. Recently, an oral examination strategy modeled on the American Board of Anesthesiology Standardized Oral Examination (mock oral board examination or MOBE) [13] has been successfully employed for this purpose in a cohort of MN nurse anesthesia students [17]. As a result, oral examinations were added as a benchmark in this NAP's new DNP curriculum.…”

Cognitive Competence and Curriculum Development in Nurse Anesthesia Education: A Pilot Study

“…13,14 Recently, an oral examination strategy modeled on the American Board of Anesthesiology Standardized Oral Examination (mock oral board examination or MOBE) 12 has been successfully employed for this purpose in a cohort of MN nurse anesthesia students. 15 As a result, oral examinations were added as a benchmark in this nurse anesthesia program's new DNP curriculum. This institution's use of oral examinations in both the previous MN and current DNP curricula offered a unique opportunity to compare outcomes related to the curricular change.…”