General discussion | 189 agreements in collaboration with other maternity care professionals are becoming mandatory in an increasing number of work environments. The autonomy of midwives may be compromised by these changes in the organization in midwifery care. Occupational wellbeing We first reflect on the wellbeing of Dutch midwives as compared to the wellbeing among midwives internationally, and then on the differences in wellbeing between NQMs and experienced midwives. According to our findings, the occupational wellbeing of midwives in the Netherlands is high compared to the wellbeing among midwives internationally.21 Dutch midwives show low incidence of burnout symptoms and a high degree of work engagement (Chapter 4). Although these findings are cause for optimism, we also have some concerns. Namely, the combination of high exhaustion and high work engagement among Dutch midwives, which puts them at risk of developing burnout symptoms and poor performance.20 Dedicated professionals may become exhausted, because they may deplete their mental and cognitive resources when they are actively engaged in their work.20 Our findings suggest that midwives in the Netherlands display a lower percentage of burnout symptoms (7%) compared to their colleagues in other countries (20 to 60%) (Chapter 4). Available job resources for Dutch midwives such as autonomy and working with pregnant women may explain this low percentage of burnout symptoms.24-26 Our findings contribute to the existing literature on midwives’ wellbeing and its determinants. We were the first to include the measurement of work engagement in a large sample of midwives. We also measured personal resources as a determinant of midwives’ wellbeing. The important role of personal resources on midwives’ wellbeing appeared of similar importance in other health professions.27-29 Similar associations were found between personal resources, such as hope, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy, and work engagement, and between personal resources and lower incidence of burnout symptoms (Chapter 4). Our findings concerning the associations between personal resources and wellbeing may suggest that Dutch midwives rely mainly on their personal resources in their work. Regarding NQMs’ wellbeing, our findings show a high degree of work engagement and low incidence of burnout symptoms among NQMs (Chapter 4). NQMs are significantly more engaged than established midwives. Burnout symptoms and levels of exhaustion do not differ between the two groups. These findings were surprising, because previous findings on newly qualified health professionals (NQPs) suggest the opposite.21,30,31 Being young and having little work experience contribute to burnout symptoms and to
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw