Military Sexual Assault Provider OSCE: Agreement of Self-reported Assessment and Standardized Patient Evaluation in Medical and Graduate Nursing Students

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes in the U.S. military. Sexual trauma education programs have been successful in increasing awareness of this problem throughout the DoD, however now more emphasis is being placed on provider education early in training. Educators at USU have developed a sexual assault education module in order to improve provider comfort and communication in a crisis situation. METHODS: Surveys were designed to evaluate students on the eight essential elements of communication (EEC). A cohort of 179 USU medical and graduate nursing students completed these surveys after participating in an interview with a simulated sexual assault victim. The standardized patient portraying the victim also completed a mirrored survey evaluating student's communication. RESULTS: No significant differences in means between medical and graduate nursing student OSCE responses were discovered. Students similarly underrated themselves on encounters. Weighted kappas were calculated and showed fair agreement between self-assessment and standardized patients. DISCUSSION: No significant differences in interactions between medical and graduate nursing students were identified. OSCE is an important teaching modality for hands-on application of knowledge; student feedback was helpful in planning future simulations and identified some areas for improvement with this simulation. Exposing students to sensitive encounters and emphasizing importance of communication, especially in these situations, will assist students in their clinical growth and development.