Midwifery Programme Overview

Health and Well Being

Sheffield Hallam University

The Faculty

• Midwifery, Nursing• Physiotherapy, Radiography• Radiology & Oncology, Paramedic• Occupational Therapy, Social work• Operating Department Practitioner • Sport Science, Biomedical Science

The Pre-Registration Midwifery Team

On Campus

Academic Delivery Manager

Course leader/Lead Midwife Educator

Module leaders

Personal teacher

Student support officers

Disability coordinator

On Placement

Mentor

Leaning Environment Manager (LEM)

Link Lecturer

Lead Link Lecturer

Supporting the student experience

• The traffic light system• Placement partnership group• The placement team• Personal tutors• Link lecturers

The programme - year one

• Level 4 • 18 weeks university attendance and 24

weeks practice with 16 additional personal study days and 2.5 hours reflection time each week

• 6 placement experiences

The programme - year two

• level 5• 18 weeks of university attendance and 24

weeks of practice with 16 additional personal study days and 2.5 hours reflection time each week

• 7 placement experiences

The programme - year three

• level 6• 12 weeks of university attendance and 30

weeks of practice with an additional 16 personal study days and 2.5 hours reflection time each week

• 5 placement experiences

Your placements

• Year one - community midwifery, postnatal ward, labour ward. Taken in blocks of 4 weeks

• Year two - labour ward, community midwifery, postnatal ward, antenatal ward or clinic, surgical pathway, neonatal unit, theatre recovery. Taken in blocks of 2-6 weeks

Your placements - year three

• Antenatal clinic, Community midwifery, Labour ward, Community caseload, ward management. Taken in blocks of 2-12 weeks

• 10 Caseload clients are identified in the first community placement. The student will aim to attend all visits and be on call to provide care for the woman during labour

Modules year one

• Midwifery and Normality (30 credits)• Health and Psychosocial Aspects of Maternity Care (30

credits)• Infant Feeding (10 credits)• Introduction to Inter-Professional Practice (10 credits)• Understanding Knowledge and Evidence to Support

Study and Practice (10 credits)• Practice placement one (30 credits)

Modules year two

• Complex Care Pathways (30 credits)• Midwifery and Altered Health (30 credits)• Using and Evaluating Evidence to Inform

Practice (20 credits)• Developing Collaborative Practice (10 credits)• Practice Placement 2 (30 Credits)

Modules year three

• Promoting Normality and Women's Health (20 credits)• Promoting Mental Health and Well Being (10 credits)• Managing Obstetric and Neonatal Emergencies (10

credits)• Capable Collaborative Working (30 credits)• Generating and Evaluating Evidence in Practice ( 20

Credits) • Practice placement 3 (30 credits)

Assessment

• Each module will be assessed using a variety of assessment methods

• Year one - Assignments, OSCE, unseen written exam with multiple choice questions element, assignments, oral presentation

• Year two - Written Seen exam, Assignments, Poster presentation, Written case study

• Year three- OSCE, Assignments, Oral presentation

Assessment

• Practice placement assessment is on-going and assesses the midwifery proficiencies, essential skills clusters and professional behaviours in each placement. The mentor awards a grade at the end of each placement

Assessment

• Year 1 - the focus is on normality with basic principles and underpinning knowledge assessed

• Year 2 - the focus is on complexity with risk assessment, management of care and recognition of deviations from normal

• Year 3 - the focus is on leading and managing care and the transition to being a registered midwife

Role of the Mentor

• Works with the student for a minimum of 40% of the placement

• Supports the student in engaging with suitable learning opportunities

• Guides the development of clinical skills and knowledge • Assesses progress and gives feedback• Identifies and records any concerns• Completes assessment documentation recording student

proficiency and awards a grade for practice.

Role of the Learning Environment Manager (LEM)

• Facilitates the development of learning opportunities • Assigns students to sign-off mentors• Provides support to mentors and students during

placement to ensure sufficient exposure to practice is achieved

• Maintains the live register of mentors • Works in partnership with the link lecturer and to

undertake quality assurance activities

Role of the link lecturer

• In partnership with the LEM undertakes an annual audit of the placement to ensure placement is a safe and appropriate learning environment

• Supports and updates mentors as required• Conducts tripartite interviews with students and

mentors to support grading in practice

Assessing clinical practice

• level 4 • By the end of year one, the student should be demonstrating the

ability to carry out practised activities with confidence and be expected to plan and lead certain practised activities with few prompts. Some basic care activities may be carried out with close to minimal supervision once the mentor is sure of the student’s ability through direct observation. Also, it is vital that the mentor check the student’s understanding through careful questioning

Assessing clinical practice

• Level 5• As the student gains confidence, she should be able to

carry out a wider range of care activities under minimal supervision. However, decisions concerning the degree of supervision should be based on a reasonable amount of prior direct observation of practice. The mentor should also be confident that the student knows when to seek assistance from a midwife

Assessing clinical practice• Level 6

• Increasingly, the student should be able to use her initiative to recognise and meet the needs of clients. Supervision is indirect which means that although the mentor is not observing the student directly, they are still aware of the activities of the student. At this stage, the mentor should use questioning not only to test the student's knowledge and understanding of care activities, but also to ascertain how she would recognise changes in client needs. The mentor should also question the student on how she would plan, prioritise and manage care and the rationale behind her decision-making. By the end of the course, the student should be able to demonstrate all the competencies to the standard of a newly qualified practitioner

Essential Skills Clusters

These are skills identified by the NMC as essential to midwifery practice and are assessed during the practice placements each year. • Initial consultation• Communication• Medicines management• Normal labour and birth• Initiation and Continuance of Breast Feeding

The practice assessment process• Initial interview - to identify objectives and plan learning

experiences• Progress review - to review progress identify further

objectives and plan further learning experiences• Final interview - to review progress and determine the

assessment outcome • additional meetings may be required if concerns about

progress arise• students should be encouraged to self assess at all

interviews

Assessment of Practice Document (AOP)

• Record the initial interview, progress reviews and final interview.

• Record the achievement of midwifery proficiencies • Complete the attendance record • Assess the students' professional behaviours • Assess Essential Skills Clusters as appropriate for

the placement

sickness and absence

• Students are expected to attend for 100% of the placement • Students may only make up time during placements with the agreement of

the course leader/placement team • students need to document all placement hours and mentors need to

validate these. • Students need to record their hours on the electronic record provided• The personal teacher will check that the hours recorded electronically

match those recorded in the AOP document • Students needing to make up more that 37.5 hours in practice will be

placed during the flexi weeks at the end of the year in order to achieve this. This is arranged by the placement team.

Grading Criteria

• Effective demonstration of practice– the student performs correctly, precisely, accurately,

decisively, reasonably, skilfully, dexterously

• Effective demonstration of underpinning knowledge– the student reaches logical conclusions from given

information and acts accordingly to make decisions about care management

Concerns about student progress

• Mentors should follow guidance in the AOP document, discuss any concerns with the student, inform the LEM and the Link Lecturer as soon as possible.

• For urgent assistance please contact the student's Supervisor of Midwives or the Course leader on 07969 610923