Clinical Practice of Midwifery Graduates During Community Service Placement, Limpopo Province South Africa

Abstract

Midwifery graduates are placed in health facilities for community service during their first year of practice. The purpose of the study was to explore how midwifery graduates experienced their clinical practice during community service placement in Limpopo province. A qualitative study which is explorative and descriptive in nature was conducted in five selected hospitals. Population comprised of all midwifery graduates who have undergone a comprehensive nursing programme regulated by R425 of 19 February 1985, as amended; working in selected hospitals. Non-probability, purposive sampling method was used to select five graduates working in maternity unit of each selected hospital. Sample comprised of twenty-five participants. In-depth face to face interviews were used to collect data. Findings revealed that graduates experienced differences between theory and practice at different levels. Loss of students’ status, high level of responsibility and inadequate clinical learning opportunities made their transition difficult. In conclusion, graduates felt exposed to two different worlds of midwifery practice resulting in frustration and reality shock. Study recommends that midwifery training programme include opportunities to discuss realities of transition period, to enable graduates to deal with midwifery issues in a real and practical situation. Mentors should help graduates to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Structured support programmes should be offered to alley feelings of fear and insecurity resulting from increased levels of responsibility and accountability graduates are faced with.

Newly qualified midwives’ perceptions of their level of midwifery clinical competence during community service in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…A named preceptor can contribute to allaying anxiety, increasing confidence and competence and job satisfaction (Steele 2009 ). The participants’ suggestion concurred with Simane-Netshisaulu and Maputle ( 2019 ) who identified the significance for the beginning practitioner to work alongside experienced staff and observe, learn and practice to make the most of available learning opportunities. These suggestions could counter the Saving Mothers Report (SANDoH 2018 ) findings, which stated that the lack of appropriately trained midwives is the most frequently cited avoidable factor related to a high MMR.…”

“…Vygotsky ( 1978 ) identified the significance of support to allow for movement from the zone of proximal development to more independent functioning. Studies have shown that newly qualified midwives value the eager sharing of knowledge, expertise (Fenwick et al 2012 ) and support, which are crucial in their professional development (Simane-Netshisaulu & Maputle 2019 ). However, the registered midwives’ stigmatisation towards the newly qualified midwives as being ‘all-knowing’ left them feeling intimidated and reluctant to seek guidance from the senior staff for fear of being labelled as incompetent and treated unfairly.…”

Mentorship during transition period: a challenge for newly qualified midwives in Limpopo province of South Africa

“…This is consistent with what was reported in a study on ‘clinical practice of midwifery graduates during community service placement, in Limpopo province of South Africa’, SimaneNetshisaulu and Maputle revealed that, graduates felt anxious and frustrated during transition period as they were expected to function all by themselves without mentors or any formal and structured support18. Participants expressed lack of confidence to stand on their own, resulting in shock frustration and anger 18 .…”

Opportunities and Challenges in Clinical Learning of Midwifery Students in Public Universities of Tigray Region, Ethiopia, 2020: A Qualitative Study

“…Midwifery students got it hard to adapt the clinical learning as they felt insecure and frustrated; as a result of a marked difference between the theories, they learned at class and the actual practice the skills performed in the clinical area. In addition to this, students were afraid of performing a vaginal examination and repairing episiotomy during their clinical practice although those procedures are very essential in the delivery room (14,15). Although a few studies have been done to nd the above gaps in clinical learning of midwifery students in Ethiopia, most of them was done in a single institution and they used quantitative study designs that may not identify the deepest feeling of students in the clinical learning.…”