Midwife teachers play ‘unique role’ in ensuring newly qualified midwives are fit for practice - independent report finds
Date:20/07/2011
MINT report is now available to read online
Midwife teachers play a unique role in ensuring newly qualified midwives are fit for practice – an independent report commissioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council has found.
The Midwives in Teaching report, a collaborative study across England, Wales and Scotland, led by the University of Nottingham, found that students and newly qualified midwives valued the role of their midwife teachers in helping them transfer their learning and education into the workplace as a registered midwife.
The NMC commissioned the report, the first of its kind, to evaluate how midwifery education is delivered and the contribution and impact of midwife teachers to the care provided by students and newly qualified midwives to mothers and babies. The findings will help to inform the regulator’s review of its pre-registration midwifery education standards which is due to start next year.
While the report found that the current education system produced competent midwives, it did make some recommendations to help enhance the experience for students.
This included the need for teachers to be visible and accessible to both students and mentors in clinical practice to assist students when providing hands on care and monitor learning and assessment decisions. The report found that the resource levels, including the number of teachers and the location of clinical placements often made this difficult.
NMC Chief Executive and Registrar Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes said:
“Every expectant mother deserves a midwife who is fit to practise and able to deliver their child as safely as possible. This report shows that our current education model is producing new midwives who meet this demand.
“Midwife teachers play a significant part in this and I am pleased that the students recognise and value the knowledge and support they provide.
“However, it is important that we don’t become complacent and this report provides us with an evidence base about how we can continue to enrich a student’s learning experience in the future.”