How the final Swedish clinical exam prepares the nursing students for their future challenges-qualitative analysis

The national clinical final examination (NCFE) plays an important role in order to measure the level of knowledge and performance of nursing students. Our findings indicate that the design of the NCFE is beneficial for the students’ clinical reasoning and problem solution in the caring situation. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of the NCFE from lecturers who corrected the written part examination. A further aim was to study the lectures and the RN during observation in the bedside part of the examination. The NCFE is divided into two parts: a theoretical (written) part and a practical (bedside) part. In nursing education it is essential to assess nursing competencies for the future professional role such as the assessment of clinical competence that has become central to evaluate what outcomes are assessed. In addition, it provides a valuable approach to measure the level of knowledge and performance of nursing students. Future development of the NCFE is necessary regarding the degree to which the examination meets learning objectives and educational results