Early career midwives’ perception of their teamwork skills following a specifically designed, whole-of-degree educational strategy utilising groupwork assessments
View/ Open
File version
Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Hastie, Carolyn Ruth
Barclay, Lesley
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective
The aim of this study was to investigate whether a specifically designed whole-ofdegree strategy utilising groupwork assessments was effective in facilitating the development of early career midwives’ teamwork skills.
Design and Methods
A qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews was undertaken with early career midwives who had graduated within the previous two years. This study is the final cycle of a larger participatory action research project. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis.
Participants
Nineteen early career midwives from one Australian university participated. Their ...
View more >Objective The aim of this study was to investigate whether a specifically designed whole-ofdegree strategy utilising groupwork assessments was effective in facilitating the development of early career midwives’ teamwork skills. Design and Methods A qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews was undertaken with early career midwives who had graduated within the previous two years. This study is the final cycle of a larger participatory action research project. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Participants Nineteen early career midwives from one Australian university participated. Their preregistration education was via a Bachelor of Midwifery. Their education included a whole-of-degree educational strategy to facilitate the development of teamwork skills. Findings One overarching theme “Becoming an Effective Team Member’ and three sub-themes: ‘Learning and developing Teamwork Skills’; ‘More secure and confident’ and ‘Self-Assurance in interprofessional interactions’ were identified in the interview data. Despite their junior status, the midwives demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of an effective team member. Their social and emotional skills appeared well developed and they felt confident interacting with other health care workers in a professional manner. Key conclusions Early career midwives who were taught and practiced teamwork skills throughout their degree, appear to have developed the social and emotional competencies required for effective teamwork. Implications for Practice: The capacity for effective teamwork of this small group of early career midwives has the potential to improve the quality and safety of their care for childbearing women. Learning teamwork skills in the educational setting appears to have generated skills focused on conflict resolution, emotional self-regulation and social and emotional competency in these new midwives. These are favourable skills in the emotionallycharged environment of maternity care, where inter-collegial bullying is present and where new midwives can experience poor psychological wellbeing. Health care employers want new graduate health professionals to be work ready and to have the skills necessary to be effective team members. The program undertaken by these new graduates may be of assistance in developing these capabilities in other health students. The known Teamwork skills are an intrinsic part of the day-to-day activities of maternity services, influencing the workplace culture, retention of midwives and the quality and safety of care. Poor teamwork is associated with clinical errors, bullying and high turnover of staff. The new Early career midwives who were taught teamwork skills and practice these skills using their groupwork assignments throughout their undergraduate degree appear to demonstrate the social and emotional competencies required for effective teamwork. The implications Implementing a whole-of-degree program to develop teamwork skills in undergraduate midwifery students may improve early career midwives’ social and emotional competencies and interactions with other health professionals. Learning teamwork skills in the educational setting may generate skills in the new midwife that focus on conflict resolution, emotional self-regulation, and social and emotional competency. These are favourable skills in the emotionally charged environment of maternity care, where inter-collegial bullying is present and where new midwives can experience poor psychological wellbeing.
View less >
View more >Objective The aim of this study was to investigate whether a specifically designed whole-ofdegree strategy utilising groupwork assessments was effective in facilitating the development of early career midwives’ teamwork skills. Design and Methods A qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews was undertaken with early career midwives who had graduated within the previous two years. This study is the final cycle of a larger participatory action research project. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Participants Nineteen early career midwives from one Australian university participated. Their preregistration education was via a Bachelor of Midwifery. Their education included a whole-of-degree educational strategy to facilitate the development of teamwork skills. Findings One overarching theme “Becoming an Effective Team Member’ and three sub-themes: ‘Learning and developing Teamwork Skills’; ‘More secure and confident’ and ‘Self-Assurance in interprofessional interactions’ were identified in the interview data. Despite their junior status, the midwives demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of an effective team member. Their social and emotional skills appeared well developed and they felt confident interacting with other health care workers in a professional manner. Key conclusions Early career midwives who were taught and practiced teamwork skills throughout their degree, appear to have developed the social and emotional competencies required for effective teamwork. Implications for Practice: The capacity for effective teamwork of this small group of early career midwives has the potential to improve the quality and safety of their care for childbearing women. Learning teamwork skills in the educational setting appears to have generated skills focused on conflict resolution, emotional self-regulation and social and emotional competency in these new midwives. These are favourable skills in the emotionallycharged environment of maternity care, where inter-collegial bullying is present and where new midwives can experience poor psychological wellbeing. Health care employers want new graduate health professionals to be work ready and to have the skills necessary to be effective team members. The program undertaken by these new graduates may be of assistance in developing these capabilities in other health students. The known Teamwork skills are an intrinsic part of the day-to-day activities of maternity services, influencing the workplace culture, retention of midwives and the quality and safety of care. Poor teamwork is associated with clinical errors, bullying and high turnover of staff. The new Early career midwives who were taught teamwork skills and practice these skills using their groupwork assignments throughout their undergraduate degree appear to demonstrate the social and emotional competencies required for effective teamwork. The implications Implementing a whole-of-degree program to develop teamwork skills in undergraduate midwifery students may improve early career midwives’ social and emotional competencies and interactions with other health professionals. Learning teamwork skills in the educational setting may generate skills in the new midwife that focus on conflict resolution, emotional self-regulation, and social and emotional competency. These are favourable skills in the emotionally charged environment of maternity care, where inter-collegial bullying is present and where new midwives can experience poor psychological wellbeing.
View less >
Journal Title
Midwifery
Volume
99
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.
Subject
Health services and systems
Public health
Midwifery