Job satisfaction midwives

Improvement due to innovative models of care

Description

Midwives are qualified to care independently for women and their children during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period and to consult professionals in case of deviations from the physiological process. In practise there are clear indications for discrepancies between the competences of the midwives and limited opportunities to use them in the daily routine of Swiss hospitals. This affects the satisfaction of employed midwives and might lead to early termination of clinical work. Midwife-led care models facilitate the development of extended competences and are associated with comparable positive obstetrical outcomes, lower intervention rates, lower costs, an increased women’s satisfaction as well as a higher job and work satisfaction of midwives. Midwife-led care focuses on the physiological processes during the perinatal phase, continuity of care as well as the need of the users and fosters the autonomy of the midwives. Different elements of midwife-led care models are known such as for example midwife-led units, midwife consulting as well as birth plan and follow-up conversations. The project aims to a) gain an overview of the professional situation of midwives in the canton of Zurich and b) to develop an innovative care model including elements of midwife-led care, to implement it in a selected hospital and to evaluate in this context the job and work satisfactions of the employed midwives. The inventory of the professional situation of midwives in the canton of Zurich used quantitative research methods. The job satisfaction of midwives was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative assessment and analysis methods. This project is part of a cooperation between the Swiss Universities in Health to establish a competence centre for workforce shortage among health professionals. Different sub-projects will develop basic knowledge and measures. In the six-part site project of the ZHAW-School of Health Professions “Investigating staff shortage: Occupational Careers and Job Retention of Health Professionals”, the data conditions will be improved and specific measures to increase job retention of health care workers will be developed.