Unit Profile

Midwifery Practice Development Co-ordinator (MPDC)

Clinical Placement Co-ordinators (CPC’s)

Clinical Co-ordinator

Allocations Liaison Officers (ALO’s)

Clinical Skills Facilitators

The MPDU are responsible for co-ordinating the clinical components of the Undergraduate B.Sc. Midwifery Programme and Post Graduate Higher Diploma in Midwifery, ensuring an optimal clinical learning environment. We support over 320 CUMH Midwifery students in addition to those from external hospitals, elective and Erasmus placements. We will do this by building strong partnership networks, promoting engagement and sustaining collaborative relationships with clinical staff and the School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC.

The clinical component of the four year B.Sc. Midwifery programme is supported by The Allocations Liaison Officer who is responsible for allocating students at CUMH and the Clinical Placement Co-ordinators who are responsible for supporting students to achieve the standards set by An Bord Altranais.

Since September 2008 the Midwifery Practice Development Team has undertaken responsibility for the eighteen month post graduate Higher Diploma in Midwifery. This is co-ordinated by our Clinical Co-ordinator. This programme is available to qualified nurses who wish to pursue a midwifery qualification.

Policy Development

The challenge to provide up to date evidence to support practice and the wish to improve service through innovation provides the impetus for policy development. The Midwifery Practice Development Team is currently developing over ninety policies along with the multidisciplinary teams from all of the clinical areas at CUMH. The underlying drivers in this development process are our National Clinical Care Programmes, National & International standards, NMBI, learning from adverse incidences, feedback from patients, midwifery/nursing staff and students.

Nurse/Midwife Prescribing

Prescribing is an expansion of a nurse's/midwife's scope of practice, beyond the skills, competence and knowledge an individual practitioner possesses at the point of registration. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) mandates the framework for the nurse/midwife prescribing.

The Certificate in Nurse/Midwife Prescribing offers appropriately qualified nurses and midwives the opportunity to enhance the care they provide to patients, clients and service users through the use of their prescriptive authority. Since the launch of the nurse/midwife prescribing initiative in 2007 a number of nurses/midwives from CUMH have successfully completed the programme.

Research Interest Group

In June 2008 the Midwifery Practice Development Team set up a research group for midwives/nurses at CUMH. As well as exploring research relevant to practice this forum provides a venue for staff who have undertaken research for Masters Degree, research proposals and/or literature reviews to present to their colleagues. The research interest group meet on the first Friday of every month.

Audit

Audit of midwifery/nursing practice is an essential element in the provision of care to women at CUMH in order to evaluate and review current practices. The Midwifery Practice Development Team has completed comprehensive audits since CUMH opened in March 2007.

National Maternity Strategy- Creating a Better Future Together.

The Midwifery Practice Development Unit recognizes the need to continually improve the Standards of healthcare & the clinical learning environment in order to promote high quality, safe care to Mother's and Babies. Here in CUMH the welcomes the launch of the National Maternity strategy. This Strategy is intended to provide the framework for a new and better maternity service. The Strategy is focused on, and responsive to, women and their individual needs. The National Maternity Strategy document is available to download here.