In this unit, students apply midwifery knowledge and skills gained in previous midwifery units to undertake professional practice in a maternity practice setting. Aligned with quality and safety principles, students will demonstrate the provision of safe care to women with more complex health needs. Placements occur under the supervision of a registered midwife who provides feedback to students on their professional practice. Before commencing placement, students will be asked to provide mandatory documentation for allocations as part of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) requirements for midwifery students. Students will undertake 160 hours of placement following successful completion of the Transition to Professional Practice unit. Students also continue the Continuity of Care program, recruiting a further three (3) women. This enables opportunities for the midwifery student to share a therapeutic relationships with each woman to learn about the uniqueness of childbearing from the individual woman's perspective.
Unit details
Location:
VU Sunshine Clinical School
Study level:
Undergraduate
Credit points:
12
Unit code:
HMB4002
Prerequisites
Completion of 288 credit points.
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Learning Outcomes
| 1. | Determine ways to initiate a woman-centred approach in application of safe and individualised care to women and their families across the childbearing journey within the midwives' scope of practice as defined by national legislative and professional frameworks; | ||
| 2. | Demonstrate respect for all women and their families inclusive of their individual culture, beliefs, values and socio-economic status during pregnancy, labour and birth and the early parenting period; | ||
| 3. | Exhibit safe and appropriate use of collaborative communication skills to interact effectively with women and health professionals; | ||
| 4. | Initiate safe clinical reasoning and decision-making within the final year midwifery student's scope of practice knowledge; and | ||
| 5. | Critically evaluate use of strategies of resilience in caring for self and as an emerging midwife professional. |
Assessment
The assessment tasks link the learning outcomes and graduate capabilities. Each piece of assessment for the unit relates to students' demonstrating the application of theoretical knowledge and skills to a woman's and her baby's care across pregnancy, labour and birth and post-birth care and is documented in the Practice Portfolio. Professional midwifery appraisals scaffold experiential learning by midwife facilitators providing formative and summative feedback and supported learning to achieve interim and final learning objectives as stated at the commencement of practice placement by each individual student. The Continuity of Care report details evidence-based reflective learning of student's individual learning of childbearing from a woman's experience which is critical to locating developing practice in a philosophy of woman-centred care. All assessments are undertaken within the scheduled timing of the placement.
To gain an overall pass in this unit, students must complete 160 midwifery practice hours and a 'Pass' grading in the Interim and Final Professional Practice Performance Appraisal. Students submit a reflective Continuity of Care Report that reflects their learning experiences of sharing the Continuity of Care experience with one woman during her childbearing journey.
Supplementary assessment is not available for the Professional Practice Performance Appraisal.
| Assessment type | Description | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Practicum | Interim Professional Practice Performance Appraisal - midwifery in Practice Portfolio | Pass/Fail |
| Practicum | Final Professional Practice Performance Appraisal - midwifery in Practice Portfolio | Pass/Fail |
| Report | Continuity of Care Report detailing experience with one of the recruited women (1000 words) | Pass/Fail |
Required reading
Skills for midwifery practice AU & NZ ed.
De-Vitry Smith, S., Bayes, S., Johnson, R., & Taylor, W. (2019)
Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier.
Where to next?
As part of a course
This unit is studied as part of the following courses. Refer to the course page for information on how to apply for the course.
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