Amman, Sept. 27 (Petra) -- The Jordanian Nursing Council (JNC) has introduced its standardized patient program for the first time in an Arab Board clinical examination, marking an expansion in the use of simulation-based assessment for healthcare professionals.
The program was used during the final practical examination for the Arab Board of Health Specializations' Family Medicine specialty, hosted Saturday at the council's headquarters.
Instead of relying solely on theoretical assessment, the approach places candidates in simulated clinical encounters with trained individuals portraying specific medical cases. Candidates are then assessed on how they apply their knowledge, clinical skills and communication in conditions designed to replicate actual practice.
JNC Secretary-General Hani Nawafleh said the program represents a significant step in developing the council's clinical assessment capabilities and expanding the use of its simulation infrastructure in professional and specialty examinations.
Standardized patients are trained to present predefined clinical cases and respond to candidates in a realistic and consistent manner, ensuring that examinees encounter comparable scenarios and are evaluated against the same criteria.
Nawafleh said the approach strengthens the objectivity and consistency of clinical assessment by reducing variations in the cases presented to individual candidates.
Participants in the standardized patient program underwent intensive training to accurately reproduce clinical scenarios in line with international practices in human simulation and standardized patient methodology.
The training drew on standards followed by the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), according to the council.
Preparation focused on mastering individual scenarios, standardizing the presentation of symptoms and responses to candidates, and ensuring that performances remain realistic and repeatable throughout the examination.
Nawafleh said the examination also marks a new stage in the use of the JNC's Clinical Skills and Simulation Center, which was inaugurated in 2022 by HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein, president of the Jordanian Nursing Council.
The center was established to support the training and educational needs of healthcare professionals locally, regionally and internationally. Its use for an Arab medical specialty examination, he said, broadens its role in clinical and professional assessment.
Nawafleh said simulation-based assessment has implications beyond examinations, helping improve healthcare quality and patient safety by testing whether practitioners can translate theoretical knowledge into effective clinical performance in a controlled environment.
He added that cooperation with the Arab Board of Health Specializations supports the exchange of expertise and opens further opportunities to use the council's examination, simulation and clinical assessment capabilities at the Arab level.
The JNC is working to develop an integrated competency-based assessment system combining examination management, clinical simulation, standardized patients and practical evaluation, Nawafleh said.
The aim, he added, is to shift assessment from measuring theoretical knowledge alone toward determining how effectively healthcare professionals can apply their knowledge and skills in clinical practice.
//Petra// RZ
