A literature review exploring student midwives' experiences of continuity of mentorship on the labour ward

Abstract

Background Continuity of mentorship is central to students' clinical placement experience. Despite a plethora of studies investigating student-mentor relationships and how it affects grading, limited attention has been paid to the extent to which a lack of continuity of mentorship affects placement experience. Aims To explore the importance of mentor continuity on labour ward for pre-registration midwifery students. Methods A database search was conducted using the terms: ‘student midwives’, ‘continuity’, ‘mentor’, ‘preceptor’, ‘mentorship’, ‘labour ward’, ‘delivery suite’ and ‘experiences.’ Findings Continuity of mentorship enhances learning and improves clinical practice experience. Conclusions A lack of continuity affects all aspects of student midwives’ experiences of the labour ward. Good mentor practice should focus on continuity and the introduction of co-mentoring, where a student is mentored by at least 2 midwives, in order to reduce the strain on mentors while retaining the feeling of belonging that student midwives value.

Midwives Mentoring Midwives: A Review of the Evidence and Best Practice Recommendations

“…This review identified 3 types of mentoring relationships within 10 eligible studies: (1) student to student (peer), (2) midwife to student, and (3) midwife to new graduate midwife. The majority of reviewed studies were descriptive in nature and published in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand 13,14,28–34 . One study was published in the United States 4 …”

“…Hallam and Choucri conducted a literature review of 8 descriptive studies in the United Kingdom and Australia that used different peer mentoring approaches, including group and one‐to‐one mentoring, to evaluate their effectiveness. Students described this relationship as beneficial, as it fostered self‐confidence, established kinship, and helped them experience a sense of connectivity 13 …”

“…Altogether these studies of peer mentoring found this type of mentoring has reciprocal benefits for both mentor and mentee. The programs foster a learning environment that lessens anxiety, develops kinship, and assists with role transformation, confidence, and improved clinical performance for the mentee 12,13,28 …”

“…Peer mentoring is described as a relationship when a more senior learner with more knowledge or experience provides guidance and support to a more junior learner. The mentor may serve as a role model by sharing past experiences, provide another source for learning the professional role, and help ease the mentee's transition and adaptation to didactic and clinical learning 12,13 . In the peer mentor capacity, the senior learner should not have any influence on the junior learner's academic progression.…”

Midwifery Student Evaluation of Practice: The MidSTEP tool — Perceptions of clinical learning experiences

“…Previous studies evaluating the clinical learning experiences of midwifery students have used qualitative and mixed methods research. Topics have included comparisons of clinical supervision methods 17 , clinical placement types 18,19 , and mentorship models 20 . The use of simulation in clinical education 21 and barriers and motivators to learning 22 also feature.…”