ABSTRACT
The OSCE question and answer station format has been developed by the advanced nursing team at London South Bank University as an alternative to a traditional written examination, as we have found that students are often able to express themselves more accurately verbally than in a written response in a traditional unseen, paper-based exam. OSCE question and answer stations lend themselves to scenarios that would be otherwise very difficult to role-play, for example, a paediatric scenario (as children are not normally used in OSCEs), an urgent situation (such as patient presenting with cardiac chest pain or a severe allergic reaction) or a sexual health scenario (due to the intimate nature of these presentations). Question and answer OSCE stations are normally designed to ensure that the questions are clear and not at all ambiguous. The questions need be understood fully; therefore short concise questions are better than long complex questions. For example:
