University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
Women Birth. 2012 Sep;25(3):e1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2011.03.005. Epub 2011 Apr 20.
Graduates from a new, 3-year Bachelor of Midwifery program joined those educated through the 1 year, postgraduate route (for those already qualified as nurses) for the first time in New South Wales (NSW) Australia in 2007. Many hospitals offer transition support programs for new graduates during their first year of practice though there is little evidence available to inform these programs.
To establish the new midwife's confidence in working to the 14 "National Competency Standards for the Midwife"(1) and the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Definition of a Midwife and to explore whether the new midwife's confidence changed over the new graduate year. In particular the study set out to determine whether there were any differences in the confidence of new graduates from undergraduate or postgraduate programs.
Pre and post survey with comparisons longitudinally and within undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts.
Three Area Health Services in Sydney and surrounding areas, Australia.
A convenience sample of all new graduate midwives employed in the three Area Health Services in the early months of 2008.
New graduate midwives rated their level of confidence (1-10) in working to the 14 National Competency Standards for the Midwife and the ICM Definition of a Midwife during their first weeks of employment and after the completion of their first year of practice.
Midwives prepared through the undergraduate and postgraduate routes commenced their first year of practice with similar levels of confidence. The confidence of these midwives increased modestly over the first year of practice. Those from postgraduate programs were significantly more confident than those from undergraduate programs on four competencies after the first year of practice. Participant's self reported confidence in working to the ICM Definition of a Midwife was low.
Our profession and community need strong, confident midwives and it is in all our interests to look to ways we can best achieve this. While the findings of this study should be treated with caution, this study suggests that there is room for improvement in the way we support newly graduated midwives to build their confidence over their first year of practice. Further research is needed to identify the needs of newly graduated midwives and how best we can support them to develop as strong and confident practitioners through their first year of practice.
2007 年，澳大利亚新南威尔士州（新州）首次有新的三年制助产士学士学位课程的毕业生与那些通过一年制研究生课程（针对已注册护士）接受教育的毕业生一起加入。许多医院在新毕业生的实践的第一年中提供过渡支持计划，但可供参考的信息很少。
确定新助产士对《14 项国家助产士能力标准》（1）和国际助产士联盟（ICM）助产士定义的工作信心，并探讨新助产士的信心是否在新毕业生年度发生变化。特别是，该研究旨在确定本科或研究生课程的新毕业生的信心是否存在差异。
在早期 2008 年，在悉尼及其周边地区的三个地区卫生服务机构中，对所有新毕业的助产士进行了入职前和入职后的调查，并进行了纵向比较和本科及研究生组内比较。
在三个地区卫生服务机构中，所有在新毕业早期阶段就业的新毕业助产士的便利样本。
新毕业的助产士在入职的头几周和实践的第一年结束后，对自己在 14 项国家助产士能力标准和 ICM 助产士定义方面的工作信心（1-10 分）进行评分。
通过本科和研究生途径接受培训的助产士在开始第一年的实践时，信心水平相似。这些助产士的信心在第一年的实践中略有提高。在实践的第一年结束后，在四项能力方面，研究生课程毕业的助产士比本科课程毕业的助产士更有信心。参与者自我报告的对 ICM 助产士定义的工作信心较低。
我们的专业和社区需要强大、自信的助产士，我们都有责任寻找最好的方法来实现这一目标。虽然这项研究的结果应谨慎对待，但这项研究表明，在我们支持新毕业的助产士在第一年的实践中建立信心的方式上，还有改进的空间。需要进一步研究以确定新毕业助产士的需求，以及我们如何最好地支持他们在第一年的实践中成长为强大而自信的从业者。
