Interprofessional Research Leads to Nursing Education Publication
A research paper authored by faculty from the Touro University Nevada School of Nursing, “Reported Outcomes and Characteristics of Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Advanced Practice Nursing Education: A Scoping Review,” was published in the October 2026 issue of Clinical Simulation in Nursing.
The project was led by School of Nursing faculty Patricia Strobehn, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, ENP-C, Catherine Chung, PhD, RN, CNE, CCM, AHN-BC, PHN, and Kelly Mecham, DNP, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC and included collaborators from across Touro University Nevada, including six students from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Jay Sexter Library, and the Office of Research.
What began as a School of Nursing research project brought nursing faculty and DO students together to examine how advanced practice nursing programs use Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) to assess advanced practice registered nurse students’ readiness for clinical practice.
“As nursing education continues to evolve, we wanted to better understand the growing use of OSCEs in APRN programs and what the literature says about their impact on student learning, competency, and clinical readiness,” said Dr. Strobehn. “Collaborating with the DO students was a positive experience. OSCEs are already a familiar part of osteopathic medical education, so the project created an opportunity to discuss how they are used across different healthcare professions. Although nursing and osteopathic medicine may approach OSCEs from different perspectives, they share the common goal of preparing competent clinicians, which highlights how much healthcare professions can learn from one another.”
The research was grounded in JBI scoping review methodology. The osteopathic medical students participated in JBI Systematic Review training, allowing them to work alongside faculty in a structured research process and contribute directly to data curation and review activities. The authorship statement reflects this collaboration, with several Touro students credited for data curation alongside faculty investigators.
The topic itself grew out of the School of Nursing’s work with Touro Nevada’s simulation center, where faculty were already engaged in using simulation to support clinical education. Director of the Simulation Center, Dr. Casey Maurice shared about the finding, “This research provides further evidence that simulation is not simply a teaching strategy, but an essential component of competency-based healthcare education. By creating standardized, realistic patient encounters, simulation allows learners to safely develop and demonstrate the clinical, communication, and decision-making skills that directly impact patient outcomes.”
The team ultimately reviewed 54 studies from around the world examining OSCEs in advanced practice nursing education. They found that these simulated clinical assessments most commonly measured overall clinical competence (74%), physical examination skills (65%), and communication skills (56%).
The findings support OSCEs as a valuable tool for preparing advanced practice nurses while also identifying a need for greater consistency in how simulations are designed, evaluated, and reported. The project demonstrates how faculty leadership, simulation-based education, JBI research training, and meaningful student participation can come together to produce published scholarship with implications for nursing education and patient care.
