Osteoporosis, osteopenia and the DXA scan
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 an orthopaedic ward. A second-year student nurse is with you.
Mrs Grant, 71, in bed 2, is day three after a hip fracture from a fall at home. Her DXA scan report has arrived: T-score minus 2.7 at the hip.
The student asks: "What is a T-score, and what is the difference between osteopenia and osteoporosis?"
teach the student about osteoporosis, osteopenia, the DXA scan, and what the nurse tells the patient about bone health.
Sources
- Irish Osteoporosis Society, About osteoporosis 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.