H. pylori ulcer and gastroscopy
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 medical ward. A first-year student nurse is with you for the shift.
Mr Ryan, 52, in bed 4, has been admitted with epigastric pain and is for a gastroscopy this afternoon; his GP found H. pylori on a breath test.
The student asks: "What is H. pylori, and what actually happens at a gastroscopy?"
teach the student about H. pylori peptic ulcer and gastroscopy, and what the nurse does before and after the test.
Sources
- HSE, Stomach ulcer: treatment (reviewed 8 May 2021) checked 2026-09-16
- HSE, Stomach ulcer: diagnosis checked 2026-09-16
- HSE, Endoscopy checked 2026-09-16
- MedlinePlus, Conscious sedation for surgical procedures 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.