Integrating Standardized Patients and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations Into a Nurse Practitioner Curriculum

Simulation has been used as a teaching pedagogy in health science disciplines for more than a century. Integrating standardized patients into simulation provides a high level of realism and is an excellent teaching and evaluation modality for nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery programs. A standardized patient (SP) is coached to perform as a patient in a specific clinical scenario, while a number of students engage in a simulated encounter with SPs. Students are observed and evaluated with a checklist to assess performance. SPs are used in a single case teaching experience or in a multistation evaluation experience called an objective standardized clinical examination.