Midwifery – Inherent Requirements

Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively in a demanding role.

Student demonstrates behavioural stability to work constructively in a diverse and changing academic and clinical environment.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Objective and professional behaviour is essential to the delivery of safe and effective midwifery care, particularly as Midwifery students are exposed to private and emotionally charged circumstances relating to pregnancy, labour, birth and post birth period which may include complex and emergency situations.

Adjustments must support stable, effective and professional behaviour in both academic and clinical settings.

Exemplars:

• Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback
• Coping with own emotions and behaviours and maintaining a professional approach to clinical practice.
• Being professional when communicating with women and their families during their childbearing continuum.

Consistent and effective knowledge and cognitive skills must be demonstrated to provide safe and competent midwifery care.

Student demonstrates:

• Capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information.
• Ability to process information relevant to practice.
• Ability to integrate and implement knowledge in practice.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Safe and effective delivery of midwifery care is based on comprehensive knowledge that must be sourced, understood and applied appropriately.

Adjustments must ensure that a clear demonstration of knowledge and cognitive skills is not compromised or impeded.

Exemplars:

• Ability to conceptualise and use appropriate knowledge in response to academic assessment items.
• Appropriately applying knowledge of policy and procedures in the practice setting.
• Know and correctly interpret a wide range of clinical information to provide safe patient care.

Foundational literacy skills are essential to provide safe and effective delivery of care.

Student demonstrates the ability to:

• acquire information and to accurately convey messages.
• comprehend a range of literature and information.
• construct written communication appropriate to the circumstances.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• The ability to acquire, read, analyse and comprehend information from multiple sources and to accurately convey messages is fundamental to ensure safe and effective assessment, treatment and delivery of midwifery healthcare.

Adjustments to address literacy issues the student must demonstrate a capacity to effectively acquire, comprehend, apply and communicate accurate information.

Exemplars:

• Conveying a spoken message accurately and effectively in a clinical setting.
• Paraphrasing, summarising and referencing in accordance with appropriate academic conventions in written assignments.
• Producing accurate, concise and clear midwifery documentation which meets legal requirements.

Foundational numeracy skills are essential for safe and effective care.

Student interprets and correctly applies data, measurements and numerical criteria

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Competent application of numeracy skills is essential in midwifery to facilitate the safe and effective delivery of midwifery care.

Adjustments must demonstrate a capacity to interpret and apply concepts and processes appropriately in a timely, accurate and effective manner.

Exemplars:

• Understand and use mathematical concepts to perform accurate drug calculations.
• Critical analysis of relevant literature, including numeracy in statistics.
• Demonstrating accurate recording on a fluid balance chart.

Adequate visual acuity is required to provide safe and effective midwifery care.

Student demonstrates sufficient visual acuity to perform the required range of skills.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient visual acuity is necessary to demonstrate the required range of skills, tasks and assessments to maintain consistent, accurate and safe care to self and others.
• Visual observations, examination and assessment are fundamental to safe and effective midwifery practice.

Adjustments must address the need to perform the full range of tasks involved in clinical practice. Any strategies to address the effects of the vision impairment must be effective, consistent and not compromise treatment or safety.

Exemplars:

• Accurately choosing/drawing up of medication to administer.
• Observing and detecting subtle changes in a newborn’s colour.

Adequate auditory ability is required to provide safe and effective midwifery care.

Student demonstrates sufficient aural function to undertake the required range of skills.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient auditory ability is necessary to monitor, assess and manage individual health needs consistently and accurately.
• Auditory assessments and observations are fundamental to safe and effective midwifery practice.

Adjustments must address the need to perform the full range of tasks involved in clinical practice. Any strategies to address the effects of the hearing impairment must be effective, consistent and not compromise treatment or safety.

Exemplars:

• Accurately undertaking a blood pressure measurement by auscultation.
• Detecting the non-verbal sounds made by a woman in labour which may indicate birthing was in progress.

Sufficient tactile ability is required to perform competent and safe midwifery care

Student demonstrates sufficient function to undertake the required range of skills and assessments.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient tactile ability is necessary to monitor, assess and detect a woman’s physical and pregnancy related characteristics and act on any deviation detected to provide thorough midwifery care.
• Tactile assessments and observations are fundamental to safe and effective midwifery practice.

Adjustments must have the capacity to make effective assessments of physical characteristics and abnormalities within safe time frames.

Exemplars:

• Detecting any changes in circulation observations e.g. temperature and pulse palpation.
• Conducting an abdominal palpation during labour and detecting deviations from normal (e.g. breech presentation).

Midwifery involves physical demands and requires gross motor function.

Student demonstrates the ability to perform gross motor skills to function within scope of practice.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient gross motor skills are necessary to perform, coordinate and prioritise care. Tasks that involve gross motor skills including lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, standing, twisting and bending. Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to self and others.

Adjustments must facilitate functional effectiveness, safety of self and others and a capacity to provide appropriate care.

Exemplars:

• Respond in patient safety emergency situations for example, administering CPR.
• Maintaining balance while safely mobilising and transferring women, or newborns or resources.
• Safely retrieve, set-up and operate equipment e.g. in preparation for birth.

Midwifery is a profession that requires manual dexterity and fine motor skills.

Student demonstrates the ability to use fine motor skills to provide safe effective care

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient fine motor skills are necessary to perform, coordinate and prioritise care. Tasks that involve fine motor skills include being able to grasp, press, push, turn, squeeze and manipulate various objects and individuals. Midwifery students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to self and others.

Adjustments must facilitate functional effectiveness, safety to self and others and a capacity to provide appropriate care.

Exemplars:

• Performing the insertion of a urinary catheter.
• Able to prime, accurately insert and set prescribed rate on an infusion device.

Midwifery practice requires both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level to meet individual needs over time.

Student demonstrates:

• Consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner and over time.
• The ability to perform repetitive activities with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately.
• The capacity to maintain consistency and quality of performance throughout the designated period of duty.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient physical and mental endurance is an essential requirement needed to perform multiple tasks in an assigned period to provide safe and effective care

Adjustments must ensure that performance is consistent and sustained over a given period.

Exemplars:

• Participating in tutorials, lectures, skills through the day.
• Providing consistent care over a negotiated time frame.

Effective and efficient verbal communication, in English, is an essential requirement to provide safe delivery of care.

Student demonstrates:

• The ability to understand and respond to verbal communication accurately, appropriately and in a professional and timely manner.
• The ability to provide clear instructions in the context of the situation.
• Timely clear feedback and reporting.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Communication may be restricted to verbal because of physical limitations of the individual (e.g. injury, disease or congenital conditions).
• Speed and interactivity of communication may be critical for individual safety or treatment.
• Timely, accurate and effective delivery of instructions is critical to individual safety, treatment and management.

Adjustments for impaired verbal communication must address effectiveness, timeliness, clarity and accuracy issues to ensure safety.

Exemplars:

• Participating in tutorial, simulation and clinical discussions.
• Responding appropriately to a care request in the practice environment.
• Communicating in a professional manner towards women and their families during their childbearing continuum.

Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to midwifery and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathetic, honest and non-judgmental.

Student demonstrates:

• The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues.
• Consistent and appropriate awareness of own behaviours.
• Sensitivity to individual differences.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues.
• Assists with building rapport with people and gaining their trust and respect in academic, work and professional relationships.
• Displaying consistent and appropriate facial expressions, eye contact, being mindful of space, time boundaries and body movements and gestures.
• Being sensitive to individual differences displays respect and empathy to others and develops trusting relationships.
• The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues is essential for safe and effective observation of patient symptoms and reactions to facilitate the assessment and treatment of patients.

Adjustments must enable the recognition, initiation of or appropriate response to effective non-verbal communication in a timely and appropriate manner.

Exemplars:

• Recognising and responding appropriately in classroom situations.
• Recognising and responding appropriately to cues in the practice environment.

Effective written communication is a fundamental midwifery responsibility with professional and legal ramifications.

Student demonstrates capacity to construct coherent written communication appropriate to the circumstances.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Construction of multiple essays/assignments to academic standards is required in order to convey knowledge and understanding of relevant subject matter, procedures and professional practice.
• Accurate written communication, including record-keeping and patient notes, is vital to provide consistent and safe midwifery care

Adjustments must meet necessary standards of clarity, accuracy and accessibility to ensure effective recording and transmission of information in both academic and clinical settings.

Exemplars:

• Constructing an essay to academic standards.
• Constructing midwifery notes in a woman’s maternity record in a timely manner that meets professional standards