Pgdip/Msc MIDWIFERY STUDIES

PgDip/MSc MIDWIFERY STUDIES

PROGRAMME HANDBOOK

SEPTEMBER 2017

CONTENTS

Page

1INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME1

2PROGRAMME TEAM2

2.1Contacting the Women’s Health Team2

3PROGRAMME PHILOSOPHY3

4WHAT WILL I LEARN?6

4.1Programme Aims6

4.2Programme Outcomes6

4.3PgDip/MSc Midwifery Studies Programme Structure9

5HOW WILL I BE STUDYING?10

5.1Programme Structure10

5.2Programme Modules of Learning12

5.3Theory Blocks and Practice Placements14

5.4Practice Placements16

6HOW WILL I LEARN?16

6.1Learning Strategies in Placement16

6.2Learning and Teaching Strategies in the Theory Blocks19

7EXPECTATIONS FOR LEARNING ON THE PROGRAMME22

8HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?23

8.1The Assessment Schedule23

8.2Assessment of Practice24

9HOW WILL I BE SUPPORTED TO SUCCEED? 27

9.1Student Support27

10HOW DO I FEED BACK MY VIEWS ABOUT THE PROGRAMME?32

11OTHER MATTERS32

11.1Attendance (High Importance)

12 INDICATIVE RESOURCES 34

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this handbook is, as far as possible, accurate and up to date at the time of printing. The express permission of TeessideUniversity must be obtained to reproduce any, or all of this publication, other than for personal use or for those purposes permitted by law.

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1INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME

The PgDip/MSc Midwifery Studies programme has been designed to enable you to advance your academic development to master’s level and to further your professional development to be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a Midwife (NMC, 2009).

Student midwives must meet the statutory and academic requirements to be fit for practise at the point of registration and be able to provide high quality midwifery care (NMC, 2009; Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), 2001). This programme will facilitate you to build upon the educational and professional knowledge that you have gained in your nursing (Adult) and health care education so far. It will enable you to develop the comprehensive and critical knowledge, practice competencies, intellectual and innovative skills to work as qualified midwives. Set at master’s level, its purpose is to assist you to develop to your full potential as a reflective, critical-thinking midwife able to adapt your practice to the changing demands, complexities and contexts of care and lead practice into the future. The programme also aims to develop autonomous practitioners whether in independent midwifery practice or as a member of different health and social care teams within the maternity services.

The programme is based upon the fact that you are currently attached to the NMC Register as a Nurse (Adult). It is essential that your registration is maintained and renewed as appropriate throughout the programme.

This handbook will provide you with information about the programme. It is intended to complement the School of Health & Social Care (SOHSC) Student Essential Guide which contains important School-wide information related to areas such as assessment and student support. It should also be read in conjunction with the University Postgraduate Assessment Regulations and University Students Protocol, which can be found on University website: ‘Cite Them Right’ (Pears & Shields 2016) can be obtained via the Library as a hard copy or e book and should be used to guide referencing within the programme.

We hope you enjoy your time on the programme.

2PROGRAMME TEAM

To ensure your programme runs effectively there are a number of people and roles that you need to be familiar with, these are:

• Your Lead Midwife for Education (LME) isChristine Robinson. The Subject Team Leader is a Principal Lecturer who is responsible for the academic management and development of midwifery. The LME ensures that the midwifery programme meets requirements of the NMC standards. The LME must also consider the safety and protection of women who use the maternity services and to this end the NMC require the LME to complete ‘good health and good character’ documentation for each student once they have completed the programme. If at the end of the programme the LME cannot be assured of your good character s/he must not sign the supporting declaration required by the NMC and you will not be recommended for admission to the Professional Register (NMC, 2009).
• Your Programme Leader is Debbie Bunford. The Programme Leader is a Senior Lecturer responsible for the management of the programme in relation to your induction and overall progress whilst on the programme. The teaching team liaise with the Programme Leader.
• Your Examinations Officer is Angela Cook. The Examinations Officer is a Senior Lecturer who has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the assessments you complete through the assessment schedule and external examination.
• Your Module Leaders are identified against their modules on pages 12-13. The Module Leaders are Senior Lecturers who provide academic guidance regarding issues relating to a particular module that you are studying. The Module Leader is responsible for recording your attendance on the module and in association with other members of the module team, will also provide you with support and feedback on module assessments.

For other sources of support both within the School and the wider University please refer to the SOHSC Student Essential Guide.

2.1Contacting the Women’s Health Team

Your University email account is a main communication tool for both you and your Academic Tutors during the programme, so it is important that you frequently monitor this account for emails. You will be provided with this email account as you commence the programme and it is important that you use your University account rather than any personal account.

3PROGRAMME PHILOSOPHY

The following philosophy encompasses the Women’s Health Team’s beliefs and values with regard to midwifery and your midwifery education. It underpins the programme aims and outcomes along with teaching strategies used on the programme:

The Women’s Health Team are passionate, dedicated and committed to the provision of midwifery education and seek to achieve excellence in practice, education and research. The philosophy of our programme is underpinned by our philosophy of midwifery and that of education. As such, it encompasses our patterns of knowing in relation to personal knowledge, ethical and moral knowledge and, the art and the science of both midwifery and education. Our philosophy of midwifery education therefore expresses our knowledge and beliefs of women, their babies and families; the nature of childbirth and midwifery care; the midwifery profession; education and research.

Childbirth is a life changing event which a woman experiences within her unique social and cultural context. We believe that birth is a normal physiological process and are committed to promoting normality in childbirth, whilst also recognising and responding to, the individual needs and requirements for women who have complex needs. The woman is the primary decision maker and her views and holistic needs are therefore central to the provision of care. This is provided by autonomous midwives during pregnancy, labour, birth and the postnatal period in collaboration with women and the multidisciplinary team, as appropriate. We believe that safe, holistic care, encompassing physical, emotional, spiritual, social and psychological experiences should be provided by the midwife in partnership with women based on best available evidence.

Midwifery education focuses on developing all aspects of the curriculum to achieve the goal of empowering students to meet the requirements of pre-registration midwifery as identified by the NMC (2009). To this end we aim to prepare and inspire student midwives to empower women and their families and to fulfil the scope of an autonomous midwifery practitioner on completion of the programme.

The educational approach supports students in developing their theoretical and practice skills in a progressive manner throughout the programme, building on existing knowledge and experience. The wide range of learning and teaching strategies that are employed are underpinned by an adult-centred approach which facilitates students to reflect, critique, problem solve and evaluate issues. Midwives of the future need to embed the knowledge, attitudes and skills required to fulfil their role in a strong background of academic study and demonstrate the ability to translate their experiences to innovative, high quality, dynamic practice that will embrace the changing nature of health care and the needs of service users.

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2009) Standards for Pre-registration Midwifery Education.

4WHAT WILL I LEARN?

4.1Programme Aims

• Be competent to fulfil the role of an accountable midwifery practitioner at the point of registration with the NMC.
• Develop the interpersonal skills, behaviours and emotional intelligence required to reliably demonstrate compassionate care, clinical reasoning, informed judgement, decision-making and the transformational leadership appropriate to the many environments in which midwives operate.
• Demonstrate the ability to contribute to the maintenance or improvement of high quality midwifery care through the development and/or critique of professional, scientific and research knowledge.
• Understand and respond proactively to the professional, social and political drivers that influence maternity care, in order to support the provision of a high quality, innovative service that embraces the changing needs of women and their families.
• Confidently apply skills in research, audit and evaluation that will impact on service improvement and promote a positive practice culture.

4.2Programme Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

• Demonstrate a comprehensive and critical understanding of the breadth and depth of knowledge underpinning contemporary midwifery practice.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive, critical and holistic understanding of all aspects pregnancy, labour, the puerperium and the newborn baby in order to provide safe, effective, family-centred midwifery care.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive and critical understanding of strategies to facilitate normality during pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period.
• Demonstrate a systematic and critical understanding of the breadth and depth of knowledge required for the recognition, management and care of women and babies who have complex needs during pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive, detailed and critical understanding of pharmacology from within a legal, ethical and professional framework.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive and critical understanding of current political and professional drivers at a local, national and global level.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive and critical understanding of research methodologies and data analysis techniques and their value in creating evidence to underpin practice.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive and critical understanding of leadership, innovation and change to enhance service improvement.

Cognitive/Intellectual Skills

• Critically review, debate and contest research related to childbirth, midwifery, health and social care.
• Discriminate, integrate and synthesise evidence from a wide range of appropriate sources in order to promote advanced reasoning and problem-solving.
• Integrate and synthesise diverse knowledge of physical, psychological, social, political and cultural factors on the health and social care of the woman, baby and family in order to provide individualised, holistic, family-centred care.
• Integrate, evaluate and synthesise knowledge of the public health agenda and use this to inform good midwifery practice.
• Integrate, evaluate and synthesise knowledge of learning teaching and assessment and apply this to the midwife’s role as an educator within the practice setting.
• Integrate, evaluate and synthesise diverse knowledge of quality assurance frameworks and risk management processes in order to uphold the principles and practice of clinical governance in midwifery practice.
• Demonstrate intellectual flexibility and openness to new ideas and formulate innovative arguments that will develop care and improve the health and wellbeing of women and their families.
• Synthesise evidence, theories and policy at the forefront of maternity/ health care that reflect the changing environment and evaluate them in the context of the midwives' scope of practice.

Practical/Professional Skills

• Demonstrate the ability to proficiently apply standards of midwifery care (NMC, 2009) and practice safely and effectively as a midwife without the need for direct supervision.
• Demonstrate the complex interpersonal skills that enable a midwife to ethically and effectively deliver compassionate, holistic, woman-centred midwifery care in normative, complex and unpredictable situations.
• Demonstrate skills of reflective practice in order to synthesise/integrate contemporary evidence-based knowledge into practice and critically evaluate the professional standards of woman-centred care.
• Practice within a professional, ethical and legal framework that ensures the primacy of the woman’s interests, respects her dignity, privacy and human rights and empowers choice and control within the context of childbirth.
• Demonstrate advanced problem-solving skills, intellectual flexibility and the ability to make informed, independent judgements applicable to diverse midwifery, health and social care situations.
• Demonstrate a systematic and critical understanding of the breadth and depth of midwifery knowledge and the issues governing excellence in midwifery practice in order to identify and respond to contemporary challenges in midwifery practice.
• Demonstrate the ability to act autonomously to identify subjects relevant to professional research, plan and/or undertake professional inquiry that adheres to research governance regulations.

Key Transferable Skills

• Demonstrate the intellectual and professional independence associated with mastery.
• Demonstrate motivation, self-direction and the skills requisite for career-long learning within a professional health care context.
• Demonstrate ability, commensurate with master’s level, to retrieve and critically appraise pertinent literature and present coherent well-informed arguments.
• Communicate complex academic and professional issues clearly and engage in professional debate in order to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and critical understanding.
• Evaluate factors which enhance group processes, demonstrate personal effectiveness within the context of team-working, personal integrity and emotional intelligence.
• Demonstrate employment potential and effective collaborative relationships across professional and organisational boundaries.

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4.3Diagram 1: PgDip/MSc Midwifery Studies Programme Structure

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5HOW WILL I BE STUDYING?

5.1Programme Structure

In order to be awarded the MSc Midwifery Studies and register as a midwife with the NMC, you will need to achieve a minimum of 180 Level 7 credits and 40 undergraduate credits in approved modules.

The MSc Midwifery Studies programme is arranged into three parts. Parts 1 and 2 must be completed as 90 weeks of consecutive full-time study. Part 3, the Dissertation (RMH4009-N),may be completed as six months’ full-time study, and the MSc Midwifery Studies programme must be completed within five years from commencement.

Students must enrol on the PgDip Midwifery Studies and complete this element of the programme in order to be eligible to register with the NMC as a midwife (NMC, 2009). The achievement of the award of PgDip Midwifery Studies is based on the achievement of 120 Level 7 credits plus 40 undergraduate credits. This element must be completed before continuing on to the MSc Midwifery Studies.

The programme commences with 90 weeks of full-time study. During this period you will be employed by your Home Trust on a fixed-term contract. The University and the Home Trust maintain a partnership approach to the facilitation of your learning. Theoretical study makes up 40% of the programme time and learning in practice makes up 60%. Excluding dinner and coffee breaks, each week will total 37½ hours. There are 10 weeks holiday across the programme. Holidays must be taken at the times identified in the programme. In the University, theory hours are divided between contact study, when you are required to attend the University for theoretical activities, and non-contact/independent study for reading around the subject and working through directed-learning activities. This section of the programme is divided into two parts; Part 1 occurs between October and June and Part 2 occurs between June and the following June.

Part 1

In Part 1 there are 17 weeks of theory and 15 weeks of practice. Part 1 of the programme begins with the Induction Week. During this week you will meet your colleagues, learn about the programme and the University facilities and make a visit to your Home Trust. At the Home Trust you will visit Human Resources in order to commence employment. Two forms of identification and your P45/P46 are required at this time. This week is followed by 11 weeks of full-time study based in the University. Practice comprises two eight-week placements in the community and a birth environment with a further two-week block of study between the placements and at the end of the placements.

Part 2

There is more practice than theory time in Part 2, in order to facilitate the development of experience (15 weeks of theory and 33 weeks of practice). This part of the programme starts with a two-week study block followed by eight weeks’ antenatal, postnatal and neonatal experience in the hospital environment and three weeks holiday over the summer. There is a period of four weeks’ independent study at the end of the summer where you will be expected to work on the project for the module Evidence-based Midwifery and Service Improvement. You will devise and work to a Learning Contract agreed by the module team and access tutorial supervision during this period. The remaining study blocks take place in advance of the two remaining practice placements which are a nine-week placement in a birthing environment and an eight-week placement in the community, cumulating in a nine-week negotiated placement at the end of which the maintenance of practice competency will be validated. The module WHH4013-N Facilitating Excellence in Midwifery Care includes a series of four single study days that are interspersed into practice to enhance the integration of theory and practice, development of problem-solving and decision-making skills. Final assessment of practice will take place five weeks into the community placement to enable timely completion of Part 2 of the programme for students completing the PgDip Midwifery Studies (90-week) programme.