OSCE › Station
Observations, INEWS and the ISBAR call
RCSI heading: Nursing process in the acute situation. You get 2 minutes with the descriptor outside the door and 10 inside, marked competent or not competent on every line. RCSI publishes no sample for this station; the descriptor below follows the layout of the two samples it does publish. Check rcsi.com before your date.
Rehearse it
Stand up, say it aloud, use whatever is on your desk as the equipment. The debrief is the competency sheet and the assessor’s questions.
To assess whether you can take and record a full set of observations, score them on the INEWS chart, follow the escalation protocol, and hand over to the doctor with the RCSI ISBAR sheet.
Mr Liam Doyle, 64, day two after a laparotomy. The night nurse recorded INEWS 2 at 06:00. At 10:00 he tells you he feels faint and his dressing is damp. A set of observations is written on a card for you; the chart, the ISBAR sheet and a telephone are on the desk.
You are required to plot and score the observations, act on the protocol, and ring the doctor. The assessor takes the call.
- Hand hygiene, introduce yourself, check the identity band against the chart
- Plot every parameter on the INEWS chart in the right band, blood pressure as a bar with arrowheads, ACVPU as a letter, oxygen as the flow and device
- Score each parameter, total the column, note any single parameter scoring 3
- State the protocol row: who to call, within how long, and how often to repeat observations
- Say whether the sepsis screening tool is triggered (INEWS 4 or more with a suspected infection)
- Fill the RCSI ISBAR sheet from the chart and the notes, abnormal readings first
- Ring the doctor no later than five minutes before the end: identify, situation with total and single parameter, background, assessment, recommendation with a time frame
- Ask whether there is anything else the doctor wants done before arrival, and read back any order
- Record the call: time, who was contacted, what was said, sign and print your name
Throughout: communicate in an accurate, clear and effective manner; demonstrate a level of competence essential for safe practice.
Competencies assessed
Every RCSI descriptor lists the same five domains from the NMBI standards.
- Professional values and conduct of the nurse
- Nursing practice and clinical decision-making
- Knowledge and cognitive competences
- Communication and interpersonal competences
- Management and team competences
Mistakes candidates report
- Reading every normal observation down the phone. Total, single parameter, the abnormal ones, then stop.
- Forgetting the time frame in the recommendation, or leaving it to the doctor. It comes from the protocol row.
- Plotting blood pressure as two dots without the arrowheads, or writing the number in the ACVPU row.
- Ringing at 9:30. RCSI says the call starts no later than five minutes before the end.
- No documentation of the call. Time, name, grade, what was agreed, your signature and printed name.
Practise the parts
Sources
- NCG No. 1 INEWS V2 (2020), summary checked 2026-09-16
- ISBAR modified for RCSI FNM OSCEs (reading list) checked 2026-09-16
- HSE ISBAR communication tool (clinical handover) checked 2026-09-16
This descriptor is a practice piece written to the shape of the RCSI samples. It is not an exam task, and the exam may ask anything from the reading list.