NMC OSCE professional values station

What the professional values station is

Professional values is one of two written stations, the other being evidence-based practice. The NMC booklet says an assessor is present at every station except the written ones (NMC booklet). The station is built around the NMC Code, which has four themes: prioritise people, practise effectively, preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust (the Code).

Public professional values topics

The NMC lists these topic titles in its timings PDF. They are topics, not questions:

bullying, deteriorating patient, drug error, falsifying observations, falsifying timesheets, hand washing, hospital food, impaired performance, information sharing, laboratory results, missed observations, patient private details, possible abuse, racism, burnout, self-medication from ward stock, social media, team party, unsafe staffing, bed rails and witnessed abuse.

How to approach a values answer

Good answers in this kind of station tend to share a shape. Keep to what you would do, in order.

1. Make the patient safe first.
2. Report and escalate through the right route, in line with the duty to raise concerns.
3. Be honest and open, including about your own mistakes (duty of candour).
4. Record what happened clearly and factually.
5. Protect confidentiality, and explain why in a sentence.

Name the Code principle in a few words, then give the action. Do not add extra words. You have 10 minutes, so plain short points are safer than a long essay you cannot finish.

Practising it

Time yourself for 10 minutes and write by hand if you can. You can try one station free with no sign-up, and the card above uses a worked professional values station. Read the NMC OSCE scenarios page for how our stations differ from real papers, and the stations list for where this sits in the 10.

Common questions

How long is the NMC OSCE professional values station?

10 minutes. It is written, and there is no assessor in the room.

What topics does the NMC OSCE professional values station cover?

Public topics include a drug error, falsified observations, possible abuse, social media, unsafe staffing and sharing patient information.