A four-week RN OSCE study plan.

Four weeks, one or two stations a day, in the order of the handbook's three domains of care [S1]. Week one finds your gaps, weeks two and three cover care delivery, and week four ends with a mock circuit of 10 stations [S1] back to back. It is our suggestion, not official advice.

Your next stations

Do a station or the free check and this space picks your next stations from your results, saved on this device only.

1. Week 1: Find your gaps, then assessment

   Do the free check once, without the timer, to see your gaps.

   • Station 1: Post-operative observations and a falling blood pressure Free
   • Station 2: A manual blood pressure that is far too high
   • Station 3: Chest pain in the emergency department
   • Station 4: Neurovascular checks after a forearm fracture
   • Station 5: A head strike in a resident on a blood thinner
   • Station 6: A low blood glucose on the morning round
   • Station 7: Falls risk on admission
   • Station 8: Pressure injury risk and a red sacrum
   • Station 9: Coughing at meals: swallowing risk after a stroke

2. Week 2: Medicines and emergencies

   Redo any free-check scenario where you missed a safety-critical point.

   • Station 10: A controlled drug, checked with a second RN
   • Station 11: Subcutaneous insulin before breakfast Free
   • Station 12: An intramuscular injection for a patient who once fainted
   • Station 13: Medicines for a resident who cannot swallow tablets
   • Station 14: A patient collapses on the ward Free
   • Station 15: Choking in the dining room

3. Week 3: Procedures, pain, fluids and blood

   Say every procedure out loud with your hands moving, as if the equipment were there.

   • Station 16: Inserting an indwelling urinary catheter
   • Station 17: An IV antibiotic through a cannula, and a reaction
   • Station 18: Pain in a resident who cannot tell you
   • Station 19: Back pain at a home visit, with red flags
   • Station 20: Starting a bag of IV fluids on a pump
   • Station 21: A painful, swollen cannula site at night
   • Station 22: Checking a unit of red cells at the bedside

4. Week 4: Handover, discharge and a mock circuit

   Finish with a mock circuit: one station from each focus area, back to back, with the timer on.

   • Station 23: Bedside handover at the end of your shift
   • Station 24: Going home on a new blood thinner

Every day

• One or two stations a day with the timer on, said out loud, standing up if you can.
• Tick the checklist honestly straight after, then read the model walkthrough.
• Next day, redo yesterday's station before starting a new one, and say the points you missed first.

The mock circuit

One station from each focus area, the one with the most safety-critical points, run back to back with the timer and no breaks. The real exam's mix of stations is not published.

1. Station 1: Post-operative observations and a falling blood pressureVital signs
2. Station 4: Neurovascular checks after a forearm fractureFocused nursing assessment
3. Station 8: Pressure injury risk and a red sacrumRisk assessment
4. Station 10: A controlled drug, checked with a second RNMedication administration
5. Station 14: A patient collapses on the wardBasic life support
6. Station 17: An IV antibiotic through a cannula, and a reactionAseptic technique and ANTT
7. Station 19: Back pain at a home visit, with red flagsPain assessment and management
8. Station 20: Starting a bag of IV fluids on a pumpStarting and maintaining IV fluids
9. Station 22: Checking a unit of red cells at the bedsideBlood transfusion
10. Station 23: Bedside handover at the end of your shiftInterdisciplinary communication

See all the stations Open my report

Independent practice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the NMBA, Ahpra, Prometric or any exam body. Every station is original practice material, not real exam content. Our checklists are our own, not the NMBA marking scheme. No guarantee of a pass. Written with AI from the official RN OSCE handbook and NMBA standards, with every fact linked to its source and checked word for word against it. Not advice for real patient care: follow your workplace policy and the NMBA standards.