Assessing the Impact of Telehealth Objective Structured Clinical Examinations in Graduate Nursing Education

Background: The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties supports the incorporation of telehealth in nurse practitioner (NP) education. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe the implementation of a no-cost telehealth simulation and its impact on students in their first NP clinical course. Methods: Twenty-eight NP students participated in the telehealth objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Students completed an online survey about the impact of telehealth OSCE simulation both before and after the simulation. Results: The students' general understanding of the field of telehealth was significantly greater after the telehealth OSCE experience. Directed content analysis revealed 3 themes: usefulness of telehealth, benefit in role preparation, and technology. Conclusion: The use of telehealth simulation can be an effective strategy to assess clinical competency, provide individualized feedback, and ensure students are using evidence-based practice.