Chapter 9 | 205 adapting to local guidelines and collaborations demand a high cognitive load. These aspects of the work context negatively impact NQMs’ work and private life. Working with clients and working autonomously motivates the new graduates. Support from colleagues and peers are important job resources, although colleagues are also experienced as a job demand, due to their role as employer. Strictness in boundaries, flexibility and sense of perspective are NQMs’ personal resources. On the other hand, NQMs perceived perfectionism and the urge to prove oneself are personal demands. Dutch NQMs’ first years in primary midwifery care are perceived as highly demanding. In primary care, NQMs usually work as locum midwives, self-employed and in different practices. Building adequate support systems might help NQMs finding a balance between work and private life through having experienced midwives available as mentors. Improving NQMs’ working position requires secure employment conditions. Chapter 3 studied the transition-into-practice experiences of NQMs who work in a hospital setting. In the Netherlands, a percentage of NQMs start work in maternity care as a hospital-based midwife, although they were prepared particularly for working autonomously in the community. This study aimed to explore Dutch NQMs' perceptions of their job demands and resources during their initiation to hospital-based practice. We conducted a qualitative study with semi structured interviews using the Job DemandsResources model. Twenty-one NQMs were interviewed individually. Transcripts were analysed using thematic content analysis. High workload, becoming a team member, learning additional medical procedures and job insecurity were perceived demands. Participants experienced the variety of the work, the teamwork, social support, working with women, and employment conditions as job resources. Openness for new experiences, sociability, calmness and attention to detail were experienced as personal resources, and perfectionism, self-criticism, and fear of failure as personal demands. Initiation to hospital-based practice requires from NQMs adaptation to new tasks. Sociability helps NQMs in becoming a member of a multidisciplinary team; neuroticism and perfectionism hinders them in their work. Clear expectations and a settling-in period may help NQMs to adapt to practice. The initiation phase could be better supported by preparing student midwives for working in a hospital setting and helping manage expectations about the settling-in period. Chapter 4 examined the occupational wellbeing of midwives in the Netherlands and its determinants. Internationally, about 40 percent of midwives report symptoms of burnout, with young and inexperienced midwives being most vulnerable. There is a lack of recent research on burnout among Dutch midwives. The aim of this study was to examine the occupational wellbeing and its determinants of newly qualified and
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