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The OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) is considered the most valid and reliable method for assessing the clinical skills of students training for health professions, but its use is limited by the related high costs. We analyzed the cost retrospectively of using an OSCE designed for second-year students (2009) in our degree course, adopting the Reznick et al. guidelines (1993), which recommend assessing both high-end costs and low-end costs. The high-end costs adopting the OSCE amounted to € 145.23 per student, while the low-end costs were € 31.51 per student. Considering the economic crisis and the cost-containment measures applied also in nursing education, strategies for further reducing costs are discussed., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nursing programs across the country are challenged with producing qualified competent graduates who can successfully pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for Registered Nurses (RN) on the first attempt. The challenge has been prompted by the largest aging population striking the nation who will need nursing care and organizations who are demanding increasing numbers of competent nurses. However, graduates from nursing programs are failing the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt. The impact of NCLEX-RN failure is felt not only by the graduate student and their nursing program, but by healthcare organizations as well. Even though the impact is multi-faceted, a common theme of cost emerges., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This article discusses computer assisted learning (CAL) and the importance of applying it in nurse education. The articles recognizes the general technological developments as exemplified by the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) from which ideas about application and benefits came. The ideas from TLTP are hereby used in CAL and applied to nursing and health-care undergraduate programmes in one university. In the light of this experience the main intention of this article is to consider the benefits and costs of introducing computer programmes as part of the teaching provision for nurses and other health-care professionals both at beginner and advanced level. The article further argues that CAL can also be used for patient teaching thus providing transferable skills and benefits for teachers as well as learners, be they students or patients. To support such multiple uses of CAL selected examples will be offered and appropriate conclusions will be drawn.