Fundamentals of Midwifery: A Textbook for Students by Louise Lewis Read Free Book Online Page A

their local universities in the recruitment to and progress of student midwives through their midwifery education programmes. Evidence from the diaries of newly qualified midwives (MINT research commissioned by the NMC 2010) indicates that where the role of a Supervisor of Midwives for student midwives occurs it enhances students’ understanding of supervision.The example in Box 1.6 demonstrates how supervisors work to promote excellence in mid- wifery care, prevent poor midwifery practice and intervene in unacceptable practice.A Supervisor of Midwives is now commonly assigned to every student midwife undergoing a pre-registration midwifery programme. The student midwife can contact the Supervisor of Midwives, in confidence, at any time to voice concerns or to debrief following an upsetting or difficult situation in the clinical area. Raising and escalating concerns Raising and escalating concerns is a fundamental responsibility of all healthcare workers, and theNMC have published guidance on this (NMC 2013). If students or practitioners are worried gener- ally about an issue, wrongdoing or risk which may affect or is affecting others in the workplace or in their care, they should raise a point of concern. This is not an easy thing to do, which is why students are advised where to access support at the start of the programme. These include their personal supervisors, university lecturers, midwifery mentors and Supervisor of Midwives. Quality assurance The quality measure of midwife lecturer to student ratio at the university demonstrates theresource commitment from the university to that provision, where 1:10 is seen as best practice.Clinically, the birth rate to midwife ratio should also be considered, with the additional quality‌14 measures of Care Quality Commission reports, Professional Standards for Health and Social Care, Maternity Liaison Committee, LSA audits, all of which are readily available to the public. Evi-dence suggests that if the team of teachers includes a Supervisor of Midwives, it can enhance communication between the universities and their clinical placement areas and provide an additional level of support to newly qualified midwives during their transition period from that of student midwife.Midwifery educationalists are often invited members of LSA working groups and receive routine communication, for example newsletters from the LSA, which are disseminated to student midwives. This ensures close links between education and supervision, with resultant benefits to education, supervision and to the LSA. Any forums that bring education, practice, Supervisors of Midwives and the LSA together are in line with Maternity Matters (Department of Health 2007) and research advocating closing the theory–practice gap.Universities value student evaluations and seek student representation on committees at programme, departmental, faculty and university levels. Student evaluations of modules, place- ments, programmes and the university are sought and acted upon. The National Student Survey is undertaken annually; all students are invited to complete this in their final year of study. The results are available to the public, and are valued as a serious quality measure of student satisfaction. Student support Personal supervision is an element found in all pre-registration midwifery education pro-grammes, and is generally undertaken by a member of the midwifery teaching team. University processes tend to determine the format this takes. The personal supervisor role can play a sig- nificant part in a student’s progress whilst on the midwifery programme. It allows a relationship to be developed between the personal supervisor and the student, with mutual respect, honesty and confidentiality being crucial components. Ideally the student and personal supervisor meet early after the programme commences agreeing the subsequent frequency and format for further contact. As with the mentor–student relationship, a rapport