Table 4 Themes, sub-themes and supporting comments from midwives (I = midwives educated with internship, N = midwives educated without internship)
From: Norwegian midwives’ opinion of their midwifery education – a mixed methods study
Themes | Sub-themes | Supporting comments |
|---|---|---|
Clinical practice | Practice and training of skills | “Missed more simulation training using a model or 3-D computer program for suturing, delivering, supporting the perineum, emergencies” #133 (I) |
“wanted more simulation training on emergencies” #26 (N) | ||
Clinical placement | “Good with practice at a midwifery-led unit, a smaller and large unit. Sad for midwifery students who risk being at one hospital for all their practice” #19 (I) | |
“Reflecting now I think the school should have made a clinical placement at a large hospital with more pathology compulsory.” #122 (N) | ||
The value of internship | “It was fantastic the internship. Feel that today’s newly qualified midwives are not prepared and fearful to start working after 2 years at school” #56 (I) | |
“would have liked to have had internship – safe, gradual transition” #20 (N) | ||
Preceptorship | “the level of theoretical knowledge varied too much among contact-midwives (preceptors)” #6 (I) | |
“Better follow-up of students who have experienced tough situations… Better supervision from teachers from school in practice” #465 (N) | ||
The gap or conflict between practice and theory | Too much theory at the expense of practice | “There should be more practice and less focus on theory and written assignments. Ours is a practical profession, and I think it now drowns in theory…” #36 (I) |
“Lots of research, this at the expense of other things that were more important.” #15 (N) | ||
More relevant teaching | “Focus was on normal childbirth. Poorly prepared for technology, complications and emergency situations” #353 (N) | |
“Very much focus on psycho-social relations in the education. This is important but when you work as a midwife in a high-tech birth clinic you need concrete knowledge.” #64 (I) | ||
Midwifery educators out of touch with current practice | “less good, teachers who were removed from practice, they knew too little about everything that happens in a labour room” #8 (I) | |
“Missed having educators/teachers at the school who kept themselves up to date by working in a maternity unit” #20 (N) | ||
Reflections on the midwifery education as a whole | Structure and organization | “Have by now met many newly qualified Danish midwives. They radiate real professional confidence which is so unusual among our newly qualified colleagues. Have real faith in direct entry midwifery, where there is time and space for midwifery professionalism building identity” # 416 (I) “Want direct entry” #24 (N) |
“I think it is a real strength to have nursing as a base. See this in particular when we now have Danish temporary staff who lack this. They lack something, much they are unable to do because they lack nursing” # 598 (I) | ||
Purpose of the education | “…education helped to establish the basis for my view on childbirth which in its origin is a normal process which women have mastered for 10.000 years. Without this basis I could have ended up as an obstetric nurse (also because I had to become a nurse first)” #24 (N) | |
“Research is good but of those who complete midwifery are there few who become researchers” # 15 (N) | ||
“We were educated to be independently thinking midwives ….” # 39 (I) | ||
Pedagogical methods | “felt the education was self-study” #475 (N) | |
“Fantastic wonderful study with inspiring teachers and lecturers” #62 (I) | ||
“the education was very good, up to date on midwifery, new articles and literature” #24 (N) | ||
Focus and content | “Missed proper focus on the midwife’s role and responsibility in normal labour, how a midwife can promote natural birth in collaboration with a childbearing woman.” # 73 (I) | |
“Too much focus on analyses + writing of good articles, too little teaching in practical midwifery” #61 (N) |