Postgraduate - UnitMID5004 - Becoming a midwife

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	Ms Maureen Miles

Synopsis

Consolidation of midwifery practice is required for students to be able to effectively function as registered midwives on completion of their course. This unit provides students with a comprehensive and clinically focused preparation and assessment for transition to practice as competent registered midwives. Students will have the opportunity to apply the theory explored throughout the course to extend and develop confidence in their practice. It is required that students will be employed in midwifery practice for a minimum of 4 days per fortnight in addition to their studies. Individual learning objectives will enable students to undertake a critique of institutional practices, policies, procedures and protocols whilst engaged in remediation, consolidation or extension of midwifery practice skills.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit the student will be able to:

Demonstrate comprehensive evidence-based knowledge for midwifery practice;
Critique the suitability of application of levels of evidence to particular aspects of maternity care;
Debate the usefulness and suitability of specific evidence based practice and best practice standards in their application in maternity care;
Demonstrate ability to research, collate and present evidence for improvement of midwifery care;
Demonstrate sound clinical decision making skills based on evidence, experience and collaboration and consultation;
Provide individualized, holistic midwifery care that meets psychosocial and physical needs;
Demonstrate individualized socio-cultural sensitivity (women-centred midwifery) in midwifery;
Demonstrate competence in the provision of discerning, discriminating, safe midwifery care in a variety of contexts and complexity of environment;
Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the legal and ethical issues for midwifery practice;
Critique self as an agent of change in maternity care;
Demonstrate a critique of self as an emerging midwife and as a life-long learner;
Function in accordance with the Australian College of Midwives Inc. Competency Standards for Midwives.

Assessment

A written portfolio and presented in an individualised portfolio comprising of research project (60%)
Presentation to peers in a conference format (20%)
Written assignment (155 words) (20%)
Assessment of midwifery practice skills (Pass / Fail)