The initiation of Dutch newly qualified hospital-based midwives in practice, a qualitative study | 49 working in a hospital setting. The outcomes of this study provide insight in the demands and resources on the JD-R model for newcomers in the midwifery profession. This will help midwifery practice and midwifery education better prepare and support students and newly qualified midwives for working in hospital settings. Background The midwives’ professional education in the Netherlands consists of a four-year Bachelor of Science (BSc) program at a university of applied sciences. When graduated, NQMs can register themselves in the BIG-register of the Health Ministry, indicating license to practice. The educational program meets the national and international standards of professional competencies,1,28 and is taught with approximately 55% of time spent on theoretical education, and 45% in placements in primary, secondary and tertiary care settings.29 In the Netherlands, about 72% of midwives work in primary care, 28 percent work as hospital-based midwives.30 Twenty percent of Dutch midwives has graduated abroad and about half of them is working as a midwife in a hospital setting.30 Amongst Dutch NQMs over the last 20 years, about 22 percent start work in a hospital setting within the first year after graduation.30 Hospital-based midwives bridge the gap between primarycare midwives and obstetricians.31 The role of the hospital midwife differs from that of primary-care midwives in that hospital-based midwives function semi-autonomously under supervision of an obstetrician within a hospital setting. In this setting they routinely care for women during birth who are at increased risk, such as women requiring pain relief, birth complicated by meconium staining of the amniotic fluid, or post-term pregnancy.31 In contrast to the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, the Netherlands has no formal support programmes designed to help NQMs in their transition to practice.6,21,32 Dutch NQMs’ support exclusively depends on informal support, whether they work as a midwife in a community or in a hospital setting. METHOD We used a qualitative descriptive design for this study to explore the working experiences of NQMs in their first year in a hospital setting. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in order to identify specific job demands and resources as well as personal demands and resources. NQMs who graduated less than three years ago and work as hospital-based midwives in the Netherlands, were recruited for individual interviews. We assumed that for a period of three years, participants could recall their experiences in their first year of working in
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw