The candidate card
Setting
Community home visit
Candidate
You are a community nurse in this original independent practice scenario, visiting Mr Adelardo Buendia, aged 38, to review how he receives information during home care. He reports longstanding hearing difficulty, has not had a recent hearing assessment and has sometimes nodded without catching what staff said. General communication options include reducing background noise, facing him, speaking clearly at a pace he prefers, rephrasing and providing written information; gradual hearing difficulty warrants GP assessment, with hearing-service referral if appropriate, whereas sudden loss, rapid deterioration, ear pain or discharge requires urgent GP or NHS 111 advice. You can record agreed communication preferences and, with his permission, contact his GP to request assessment and consideration of an audiology referral; a complete ongoing clinical assessment may continue after this focused conversation.
Task (interlocutor: patient)
- Find out when communication is difficult, what has helped and whether his hearing has changed suddenly or recently, or is accompanied by ear pain or discharge
- Explore his habit of nodding when he has missed information, acknowledge any embarrassment and establish how he would prefer staff to check understanding
- Explain and try suitable communication adjustments, including written information, pausing to use his feedback
- Offer to contact his GP with permission for assessment of his hearing difficulty and consideration of audiology referral; explain when urgent advice would be needed instead
- Agree a communication plan for future visits, including his preferred contact method, and check his understanding
In the test you get 3 minutes to read the card and plan, then about 5 minutes to talk. This card is original, written for this site; the interlocutor's card is not shown.
Prepare this card, then say it out loud.
Plan your opening and the tasks below. Keep these notes when you move to the AI role-play.
You are a community nurse in this original independent practice scenario, visiting Mr Adelardo Buendia, aged 38, to review how he receives information during home care. He reports longstanding hearing difficulty, has not had a recent hearing assessment and has sometimes nodded without catching what staff said. General communication options include reducing background noise, facing him, speaking clearly at a pace he prefers, rephrasing and providing written information; gradual hearing difficulty warrants GP assessment, with hearing-service referral if appropriate, whereas sudden loss, rapid deterioration, ear pain or discharge requires urgent GP or NHS 111 advice. You can record agreed communication preferences and, with his permission, contact his GP to request assessment and consideration of an audiology referral; a complete ongoing clinical assessment may continue after this focused conversation.
Getting your plan ready…
Preparation is free without an account. AI conversation and marking need sign-in; your first role-play is free. Notes are saved on this device when available. This checklist is your plan, not a score.
How to approach this card
- Make the conversation accessible before asking for a detailed account. Ask whether he can hear you comfortably in the current setting and what pace suits him. A likely concern is embarrassment about repeated clarification; explore this without assuming his reasons for nodding.
- Establish the time course before treating this as a routine referral discussion. Use his account to distinguish longstanding difficulty from any change meeting the card's urgent criteria. Avoid allowing the familiar history to obscure a newly reported problem.
- Frame missed information as something the care team should help prevent, rather than evidence that he has been uncooperative. Ask how he would like staff to check understanding, making room for him to request repetition without needing to apologise.
- Try an adjustment, pause and ask whether it helped before adding another. Facing him, reducing noise, clear speech, rephrasing and writing are options to test, not a guaranteed package. Avoid assuming that louder speech alone solves the difficulty.
- Close with a plan he can actually use between visits, including his preferred contact method. Obtain permission before contacting his GP and record the agreed preferences. If time is short, prioritise accessible understanding, appropriate urgency and a workable next contact.
Phrases to adapt
Use your own words; these show the register, not lines to memorise.
- Thank you for telling me that some information has been missed.
- Would this be easier to discuss somewhere quieter?
- Is this pace comfortable, or would you like me to change it?
- You do not need to apologise for asking me to rephrase.
Medical words in plain English
| Term | How you might say it to the patient |
|---|---|
| hearing assessment | A check of your hearing difficulty. |
| audiology referral | Asking a hearing service to assess you. |
How this card is marked
Two assessors mark the recording on nine criteria: intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language and resources of grammar and expression (each 0–6), then relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving (each 0–3). See the AI Speaking practice guide for what each criterion looks for.
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Next step for Australian nursing: if your pathway requires OBA after OET and NCLEX-RN, explore OSCE practice for Australian nurses at OSCE Australia, run by the same company as OETAce.
All sets: nurses, doctors, other professions. Your profession's guide: OET Nursing.
Questions about this role-play
How should I handle the card's UK urgent-care pathway?
Cover sudden loss, rapid deterioration, ear pain and discharge together. The card specifies urgent GP or NHS 111 advice. In Australia, sudden hearing loss requires immediate emergency-department assessment; seek urgent medical advice for the other listed changes. Do not leave sudden loss awaiting routine referral. [Australian hearing guidance](https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/conditions/ear-diseases/hearing-loss).
What if he asks whether he needs a hearing aid?
Explain that this conversation cannot determine the cause of his difficulty or which treatment would suit him. Assessment comes before any recommendation about a device. Avoid promising that a referral will result in a hearing aid or that a particular treatment will restore his hearing.
What if he asks a relative to interpret what staff say?
Ask whether involving that person is his preference, and clarify what he wants shared. Continue addressing him directly rather than speaking only to the relative. Do not assume a relative is available, that he wants one involved, or that their presence confirms he has understood.
Sources
Last checked 22 Oct 2026. Rules and prices change: confirm on the official page before you book or apply.
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