Final project and quality monitoring

Abstract

New and adapted maternity services need to maintain safe high-quality care provision to deliver that which it sets out to do in a cost effective, resource savvy and sustainable way. It is therefore essential that midwives critically evaluate academic, clinical and professional performance using service evaluation, audit, quality improvement projects and research. As a result, midwives are required to utilise research skills to identify and propose solutions to problems to facilitate woman-centred care. This chapter helps students undertaking a final year project. Students may be required to undertake a traditional dissertation or, more commonly now, an evidence-based project, systematic review of the evidence, service evaluation, audit, quality improvement project, a small primary research project or secondary data analysis research as a final year project. Research projects require ethical approval once all the details of students’ project proposal are finalised. Typically, under-graduate final year projects are self-funded or conducted without any financial input.