Making the transition: A focus group study which explores third year student and newly qualified midwives’ perceptions and experiences of becoming a registrant midwife

Abstract

Objectiveto explore the perceptions and experiences of becoming a newly qualified midwifery practitioner. Designfocus group methodology. SettingNHS Trust in South East of England. Participants8 newly qualified midwives (NQM's) and 8 third year student midwives participated in the focus groups. FindingsSome of the participants raised concerns about the emotional challenge of making the transition from senior student to newly qualified midwife, including the impact of their own and others’ expectations and the support that was available to them. The participants felt that the process of moving from student midwife to newly qualified midwife presented opportunities and challenges. Whilst the participants had looked or were looking forward to becoming a midwife, they also recognised that this process had the potential to be stressful. Key ConclusionBoth the newly qualified midwives and senior students who participated in the study identified that having effective support from more senior staff and from peers would enable newly qualified midwives to have increased confidence when providing quality care to pregnant women. Implications for PracticeEffective support strategies need to be developed in order to support the transition from student to newly qualified midwife.