Constipation and colonoscopy
RCSI heading: Teaching the junior student nurse. This topic is one of the current examples RCSI names for the station. You get 1 minute to think and 7 to teach, leaving time inside the ten-minute station for the assessor. The assessor marks what you teach and how. Check rcsi.com before your date.
Teach it
Out loud, standing, to an empty chair if you have to. Record yourself if you want to hear how much of the time you talked.
You are the staff nurse on a surgical ward. A first-year student is with you.
Mr Byrne, 64, in bed 7, is for a colonoscopy tomorrow after a positive BowelScreen test; he also complains he has been constipated for a fortnight.
The student asks: "How do we define constipation, and what does the bowel prep involve?"
teach the student about constipation, its causes and first-line care, and how a patient is prepared for and cared for after a colonoscopy.
The pass: theory and OSCE
Teach every topic on the clock.
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Sources
- HSE, Constipation (reviewed 1 August 2026) checked 2026-09-16
- HSE BowelScreen, Colonoscopy (reviewed 1 June 2026) checked 2026-09-16
- NMBI, Quality Clinical Learning Environment (page 6 on the RCSI list)
The situation is a practice piece written to the shape of the RCSI descriptors. It is not an exam task; the exam may name any topic from the reading list.
Something wrong or out of date? (Teaching constipation-and-colonoscopy)