Midwifery students' perceived independence within the core competencies expected of the midwifery community upon graduation: an Italian study.

FASAN J., ZAVARISE D., PALESE A. & MARCHESONI D. (2012) Midwifery students' perceived independence within the core competencies expected of the midwifery community upon graduation: an Italian study. International Nursing Review59, 208–214 Aim:  The general aim of this article is to describe the independence perceived by midwifery students who are due to qualify with regard to core competencies that are considered essential by the community of professional midwives working in Italian healthcare hospitals. Methods:  A multi-method research project was undertaken. One hundred sixty-seven midwives working in 11 regional facilities were approached with the aim of selecting the core competencies expected by graduands. In the same region, all graduands (24) educated at two universities were involved in the study aiming to discover the level of the independence (from 0 none to 10 maximum) perceived in each core competence selected by the midwives. Results:  The average score obtained by graduands in the questionnaire containing 102 core competencies was 717.4 (standard deviation 130.3, median 743). The minimum score was 363 and the highest was 916. Assuming the minimum cut-off at 612 points, five students (20.8%) had a perceived level of independence below sufficiency. Conclusion:  Italian midwifery education has been reformed five times since 1940. The reduction in the length of the direct entry midwifery programme as introduced in the latest Italian national reform, and the higher standard of education requested also by European Directives, cause an increasing number of students to prefer to extend their course duration and postpone graduation until they feel independent. Any change in curriculum should consider the impact in the short, medium and long terms. For this reason, each new policy should consider carefully the point of view of experts in the disciplines, such as midwifery, with the objective of protecting and developing their competence in taking care of women, newborns and their families.