Strengthening Midwifery Foundation through Innovation

in Education, Research, and Publications

PROFESSOR ANGELA GRAVES
PROFESSOR OF MATERNAL HEALTH & PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
HEAD OF SCHOOL OF HEALTHCARE
Visiting Professor, UNISA University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Acknowledge – Professor Linda McGowan
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.
Overview:
Set the scene
Part 1 – research collaboration
and why this is important
Part 2 – education example –
blended midwifery degree
Research and
innovation: investment
in continued excellence
 QS World University
Rankings: Why is it
important?
• All universities strive to be in the top 100
• Indicates profile and reputation
• QS methodology has six indicators looking at
four broad categories:
• research reputation
• the learning and teaching environment
• research impact
• internationalisation
• Medical and biological engineering
 One of world’s top 10 research institutes

• Electronic and electrical engineering

 Top 5 in UK

• Climate change and atmospheric science

 UN Intergovernmental panel on climate
change (5 lead authors)

• Data analytics
 State of the art facilities and powerful
combination of expertise
 The build
The Build

Creating awareness  Equipping with info  Opportunity to (net)work  Deliver impact  career
progression
• Regular communication • Diverse MoU
• Workshops on global funding opportunities/SDGs • Reinforcement events • Personalised support
• Pump priming for research/mobility (IRMAs) • Partner databases • Promotion criteria
• Global Community for students

Faculty of Medicine and Health

Why?
Internationalisation: potential benefits
Teaching
Research
collaboration &
collaborations &
student
exchanges
exchanges

International
Individual/school/
students &
faculty links
researchers

TNE –
partnerships
Branch campuses
DL
Why should ECRs develop international
collaborations?
• ‘Added value’ of co-authored Int’l publications
• An essential part of career progression
• Address global challenges
• Needs interdisciplinary and cross-cultural working
• Funders now expect this level of collaboration
• Address areas of unmet need
• Personal growth*
Improve citation rates

Personal Benefits
Improve grant capture
Travel and get to meet exciting people!
Improve your citation rate

• Early work showed the impact of publishing with international

authors (Pislyakov and Shukshina 2012)
• Citation analysis shows that papers with international co-authors are
cited up to four times more often than those
• without international co-authors (Jones and Evans 2013).
• Krause (2009) argued that articles published with
multi-countries or multi-institutes collaborations get cited more.
• Authors who are often involved in international
collaboration received more citations (Aksnes 2003).
Improve grant capture
• More pots of funding to go for!
• Main UK funders all have a global arm (e.g.
NIHR, MRC, ESRC, charities)
• No need to reinvent the wheel – replicate
but with cultural sensitivity and insight
• Co-applications with international partners
How do we do it?
• Choose collaborators wisely
• Connect – seek opportunities
• Start small
• Awareness of cultural differences
• Communicate clearly
• Anticipate challenges
• *International office/PDIs/School leads
• *Mentorship

Flannagan et al., Behav Ther 2015: 38(5) 131-134

Challenges
• Time
• Fit
• Funding
• Ability to travel
• Language
• Systems and politics
• Cultural understandings
• Security and threat
University Strategy 2020-2030

Community

Impact Culture
WE CANNOT WORK IN
ISOLATION!
DEVELOPING DIGITAL CAPABILITIES THROUGH
A BLENDED DEGREE PROGRAMME

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Our Vision
• To provide a transformative, research-based educational experience for
students from diverse backgrounds, who develop the knowledge and skills they
need to succeed and make a positive impact in the world.
• Engage students as partners in their education, through active and
inclusive approaches to learning, and research-based content.
• Provide an outstanding education, underpinned and enhanced by sector-
leading digital resources, pedagogies and technologies.
• Support the growth of a digitally-expert and professional workforce suited to
workforce demands now, and in the future (
https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/blended-learning).
PRACTICE
Systems do not link up with each other
Reliance on systems giving the answer
Leads to issues with decision making
Impacting safe and effective practice
Develop digital skills
and use this to inform Varied technologies
decision making

Multi-professional Evidence based

learning and training practice

Develop clinical skills

considering human
factors and situational
awareness in
informing decision
making
 This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

BLENDED MIDWIFERY DEGREE

Flexible and accessible approach - diversifying the next generation
of midwives entering the workforce
Our learning environments

Clinical Area
Practice learning opportunities within
the NHS Trust, specialist units and
community environments.

School of Healthcare
Highly-equipped clinical skills suite
including Midwifery suite, realistic
ward, community, home and
emergency simulation rooms.

FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

BSc (Hons) Midwifery
 Midwifery (Blended Learning) BSc programme

• 3-year programme.
• In partnership with Health
Education England
• Course runs for 45 weeks of
the year
• Must complete a minimum of
2,300 theory hours and 2,300
practice hours
• Varied practice experience.
• Variety of assessment
methods
• Inter-professional learning
• International modules

FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

BSc (Hons) Midwifery
Blended Learning
• Blended approaches use
multiple methods to
• deliver learning

• Combination of face to
• face and online learning
• Flexible approach
• Build Your Own
• Synchronous and Timetable
Asynchronous activity
• IT support
FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH
BSc (Hons) Midwifery
Benefits of Blended Learning

• Flexibility

• Learners have more

control over the pace and
spaces which they learn in

• Empowers self-direction

• New opportunities for

students to interact with
their peers, teachers and
academic subjects
 Nursing and Midwifery Council – ‘Future Midwife’ Standards

• Curriculum development
in progress in line with
NMC 'Future Midwife'
Standards (2019)

• Commenced Sept 2021

 YEAR 1

• develop professional values and

knowledge and skills relating to the
foundations of midwifery practice.
• Fundamental clinical skills and
woman-centred midwifery care
will primarily be applied during the
antenatal and postnatal periods.
develop knowledge of physiology
and research skills to underpin
evidence-based practice.
undertake midwifery practice in
community settings with some
observational hospital-based
placements and exposure to
general ward areas, to develop
critical skills by reflecting on the
midwife’s role in universal care for
all woman and newborn infants, as
well as within wider healthcare
services.
YEAR 2
• In year 2 midwifery theory expands to
include global and cultural insight into the
care of women in the intrapartum period
and more complex childbearing in a range
of physical, psychological/emotional and
social contexts.

• Clinical placements in this year are

predominantly hospital based, which
includes, Delivery suite, Antenatal ward,
Postnatal ward as well as opportunities to
experience Maternity assessment centre,
Antenatal clinic, Antenatal day unit, and
Transitional care.

• This will enable students to identify and

apply the knowledge and skills necessary
for delivery of skilled, knowledgeable,
respectful and compassionate care for
women, newborn infants and their families.
YEAR 3

• In year 3 hospital-based placements

continue and students hone their skills
in order to promote excellence in
midwifery, taking greater responsibility
in a final community placement, where
they care for a small caseload of
women under indirect supervision.

• Students will write a dissertation,

addressing a specific midwifery-related
question in depth and will evaluate and
determine priorities for safe and
effective care delivery and service
improvement.

• There’s also an opportunity for an

elective experience at home or abroad.
Elective opportunities

All students will undertake an elective placement in

year 3 of the programme.
Our students have been around the world including:
Ireland Philippines
Italy Tanzania
Ghana Uganda
Nepal Indonesia
New Zealand USA
Pakistan Canada
Peru

FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

BSc (Hons) Midwifery
 Interprofessional Working

• Programme design has incorporated elements to

enable students to be successful
• Integrated within theoretical learning and
teaching opportunities
• Partnership with practice partners – preparation,
education and support
• UNISA
• Our students are prepared to be competent, safe
practitioners on entry to the register, equipped with
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the skills to lead, innovate and implement evidence-
based midwifery practice as part of interprofessional
teams
Careers

Midwifery practice
Once qualified, midwives can work in
either hospital or in the community -
'newly qualified' staff rotate and
consolidate skills in all areas.
Specialist roles
Opportunities in clinical specialisms,
management, research and education.
Further study
Develop research via postgraduate
diplomas, Masters and PhD degrees.

FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

BSc (Hons) Midwifery
 THANK YOU

Contact: Professor Angela

Graves This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.