The
ECOE methodology is used to evaluate students' clinical practice learning and
involves rotating students around a circuit of stations. Each station presents
a clinical case that students must resolve by applying different areas of
knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Each
student starts the exam at a different station, but they all start at the same
time and have to attend every station. At the stations, students may encounter
a simulated patient, be asked to carry out a technique on a mannequin or
document a patient's development by writing notes in the medical history, in
addition to other tests.

The
first- and second-year exams were conducted over two days, with two
simultaneous circuits of two hours and 15 minutes taking place. This year, for
the first time, there were three simultaneous circuits for third-year students.
This meant that there was enough capacity for 42 students to be evaluated
through the methodology. The exam consisted of 14 stations that had to be
resolved in three hours. Eleven of the stations consisted of a single clinical
case of an intensive-care patient whose physical condition was deteriorating
and the students had to fill in the intensive-care records based on their
observations of the monitor, ventilator and patient (a mannequin with various
catheters and dressings). Another two stations were for evaluating the
administration of medication and care for a patient with breathing problems,
and the final station focused on the identification of errors made in the
operating theatre by means of a video recording.

The
competences being evaluated were: knowledge, technical skills, capacity for
reflection and critical thinking, assessment, analysis and synthesis, planning,
resources and communication.

The UIC Simulated Laboratory simulates four
distinct nursing environments: the admissions unit, the intensive-care unit,
the maternity ward and primary care. The facility is equipped with
state-of-the-art scientific and technical equipment capable of simulating any
situation so that students can put their theoretical knowledge into practice.