154 | Chapter 7 support by an experienced professional, who provides guidance to a less experienced professional in dealing with work-related issues.24 The mentor has a detailed knowledge of the relevant field of expertise and/or workplace. Coaching is defined as a form of development in which an experienced individual supports a learner or client, helping them to achieve a specific personal or professional goal by providing appropriate training and guidance.24 The coach is experienced in the field of coaching/training and personalised learning. The researcher’s characteristics and competencies The researcher (first author) is an educator in the field of midwifery and is experienced in the use of both qualitative and quantitative research designs. For several years, the researcher has studied the experiences of NQMs as they transition into professional practice, so the possibility of bias does exist. The possibility of bias is reduced by the supervising team on this study, which consist of researchers with different backgrounds. Accordingly, the various phases of the study and its findings were discussed by a team of experienced researchers (other three authors). They also were familiar with the use of the Delphi technique. Participants Participation was restricted to professionals in the field (NQM or midwife) or to members of relevant organisations or institutions in maternity care.25 To ensure that this group was representative, we included stakeholders working in different regions of the Netherlands. First, a stakeholder analysis (Appendix I) was conducted to identify stakeholders in midwifery care. A list of Delphi panel participants was compiled from (1) the primary stakeholders concerned: hospital employers/managers, practice owners in community-based midwifery, experienced midwives (hospital-based and communitybased), NQMs and (2) the secondary stakeholders concerned: obstetricians and staff members of the Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives (RDM). Participants were recruited via the networks, all three midwifery academies in the Netherlands, the RDM and via snowballing. Invitations were sent to potential participants by email. These contained information about the study, the aim of the study and what was expected of participants. All of the participants were informed that their participation in a maximum of three rounds of the Delphi study would involve a timeframe of three to six months. Ethics approval and consent to participate
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