Midwifery students' clinical experiences on the labour ward

Abstract

Clinical learning is an important part in midwifery training for student midwives. The atmosphere created in the learning environment can affect positively or negatively their learning experience. Previous research on the subject was done in different countries that focused on the clinical experiences of midwifery students on the maternity wards. However, few of these studies based their research on the experience of midwifery students on the labour ward. The present study was a one-time study and a descriptive one and aimed at exploring the clinical experiences of midwifery students working on the Labour Ward. Its objectives were set to investigate the clinical experiences of midwifery students with regards to their supervision on the Labour Ward and also to identify the students' learning opportunities on the Labour Ward. The purposive sample that was chosen for the study included 29 midwifery students between the second and fourth year of their midwifery studies at the Institute of Health care, University of Malta. Data was collected using a questionnaire with open and closed-ended questions, which were distributed to the participants in their classroom. A pilot study was conducted prior to the main study in which 3 students participated. There was a 100% response rate since all students participated in the study. Data was analysed manually and presented in graphs, charts and tables to illustrate the results. These results show that the learning culture needs to be improved on labour ward; provide more opportunities for hands-on practice for midwifery students and provide constructive feedback that aims to improve the students' practice. lt was concluded that midwives working on labour ward need to be more educated to facilitate the transfer of theoretical learning into clinical practice. Students need to be shown more respect by the clinical midwives if caring midwives are to be produced in the future. Midwifery tutors may be more involved in the clinical education while collaborating with the clinical midwives. Further research on the subject is recommended on the other obstetric wards. Clinical midwives and midwifery tutors may also be included to gain an overall view of the local midwifery training.