Obesity, BMI and waist measurement
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 in a pre-assessment clinic. A first-year student is with you.
Mr Connolly, 45, is 1.75 m tall and weighs 98 kg. His waist measures 104 cm. He is being assessed before a knee operation.
The student asks: "How do I work out his BMI, and why did you measure his waist as well?"
teach the student how BMI and waist measures are taken and read, their limits, and how to talk about weight without judgement.
The pass: theory and OSCE
Teach every topic on the clock.
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Sources
- HSE, Obesity: diagnosis (reviewed 20 October 2025) checked 2026-09-16
- HSE National Policy and Procedure for Safe Surgery 2022 (V3, current), sections 13 to 16 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Something wrong or out of date?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 obesity-bmi-and-waist)