Nurse lecturers should aim to create learning experiences that link theory and practice. The Nursing and Midwifery Council suggests that educational programmes designed to prepare nurses for practice should offer a flexible, blended approach to learning, and should draw on the full range of modern learning methods and modes of delivery. Simulation is recommended as a useful teaching and learning method to help facilitate the link between theory and practice.

This article's lead author developed an easy-to-recall mnemonic ‘I AM A STAR’ to help undergraduate mental health nursing students remember the components of a fundamental observational assessment in mental health nursing, the mental state examination (MSE). This article describes an MSE teaching workshop that used the I AM A STAR mnemonic and observational simulation. The teaching workshop was innovative, creative and engaging for students, and well evaluated. The authors propose that the I AM A STAR mnemonic is a useful assessment tool for nursing students and qualified practitioners.