Exploring Challenges Experienced by Nursing Students Regarding Objective Structured Clinical Examination in malawian Nursing Colleges: A Qualitative Phenomenology Study.

Background : Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a widely used clinical assessment method in health professions education. It is a reliable and objective assessment tool that accurately measures students’ clinical skills and knowledge, confirming their competence in real world practice. However, despite the OSCE being used to certify students’ clinical competency skills, many nursing students often lack the necessary clinical skills to provide quality patient care. The study aimed to explore challenges that college diploma nursing students encounter with OSCE at selected nursing colleges in Malawi. Methods : The study employed a qualitative husserlian phenomenological design at three nursing colleges: Malawi College of Health Sciences (Zomba Campus) in the Southern Region, Nkhoma College of Health Sciences in the Central Region and St. John’s Institute for Health in the Northern Region. The study recruited fifty-three final year college diploma nursing students from the three nursing colleges using purposive sampling technique. Three focus group discussions and twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted in English, audiotaped and later transcribed verbatim. Data from both sources were triangulated and then manually analyzed using Colaizzi’s data analysis method. Results : Three themes related to challenges faced by nursing students regarding OSCE emerged from the Colaizzi’s data analysis. These included (1) emotional and psychological issues, notably high levels of stress and anxiety related to the OSCE, (2) administrative difficulties and (3) academic difficulties. Conclusion : Diploma nursing students’ encounter complex challenges with OSCE in Malawi. The study findings emphasized the need for nursing education institutions to address the challenges through targeted interventions which can enhance the learning environment and produce competent nursing professionals.