Midwifery student's perceptions of completing a portfolio of evidence for initial registration: A qualitative exploratory study

Michelle Gray; Terri Downer; Tanya Capper

doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102696

Midwifery student's perceptions of completing a portfolio of evidence for initial registration: A qualitative exploratory study

Nurse Educ Pract. 2020 Jan 14:43:102696. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102696. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Michelle Gray¹, Terri Downer², Tanya Capper³

Affiliations

¹ College of Nursing and Midwifery, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Electronic address: michelle.gray@cdu.edu.au.
² School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: tdowner@usc.edu.au.
³ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: t.capper@cqu.edu.au.

PMID: 32171172
DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102696

Abstract

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) has set regulatory standards, that require midwifery students to verify how they have met ANMAC standard 8.11 requirements prior to registration as a midwife. The most common formats for recording achievement of the ANMAC requirements are paper-based or electronic portfolios. Research was conducted to compare student's experiences of completing their university portfolio format. Focus group interviews were held at two south east Queensland universities. This study has found that there is disparity between universities in the level of detail documenting evidence of midwifery experiences. The paper-based portfolio was criticised for not having sufficient space for the students to explain the extent of their experiences, in contrast students completing the ePortfolio felt their reflective entries were excessive. Some students felt the portfolio was not being used to its full potential with suggestions that all experiences that fall within the midwife scope of practice should be recorded as evidence of practice experiences. Students felt the current ANMAC Standard 8.11 requirements limit the range of experiences and are repetitive in requiring up to 100 recordings for some experiences. No nationally agreed format exists of how students are required to document their required ANMAC experiences.

Keywords: ANMAC standard 8.11; Education; Midwifery students; Portfolios; ePortfolio.