This assignment willlook at professional development issues in the maternity unit of the

Rockhampton Base Hospital. We will review what assistance is available on the ward, as

well as what services are available around the hospital.

A survey was carried out as to what services were available to staff and if they used them.

The majority of questions were of the yes/no response, with two being open ended, allowing

respondents to expand on their answers if they wished. Ten surveys were distributed , with 7

being returned. One level 2 completed the survey, with the remainder being done by level 1’s

of a wide mix of seniority. This survey was anonymous, with respondents being told not to

put their names on it. A reward was also provided with each survey, of a chocolate freddo

frog.

We will also be looking at what financial assistance is being offered by Queensland Health

(QH), to allow staff to be financially assisted with their on-going professional development.

Library

The maternity unit at Rockhampton Hospital is broken into four units. The first 3 being on

the top floor, these units being the labour ward, special care nursery and the maternity ward.

The 4thunit being the antenatal clinic, which is located within the specialist out-patients

department. Each ward / clinic has its own small resource library, each containing 6 to 10

reference books, which relate to their location. Unfortunately, most of the books are greater

than ten years old. Up on the ward, there is access to up to date issues of the Australian

Journal of Midwifery. The labour ward appears to use their books the most, with the

maternity ward and the antenatal clinic, using theirs the least.

Access to the hospital library was normally very good, but due to hospital renovations and

construction, this has ceased to be the case. The library is now located some distance away

and on the opposite side of the construction going on. The hospital library carries a good

stock of up to date midwifery related text books. Access to printed midwifery journals is

limited to the Australian Journal of Midwifery. Via the internet, you are able to gain access to

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midwifery journal from around the world, as well as research based journals such as

Cochrane and the Joanna Briggs Institute.

The survey carried out, shows that staff generally knew where the library is located (7:0

respondents). Unfortunately, it also shows that it is used little by the staff questioned (5:1, 5

used it very little, 1 not at all). Most staff questioned, would prefer to use the internet at

home, instead of the library (6:1, 1 did not research information at home).

Educators and Research

The Maternity departments educational needs are met by 2 part time educators, which totals

one full time position. Both educators also work on the floor. I have found both educators

easy to approach and helpful when asked, if they had the time. Both are involved with

research, ensuring that policies and procedures are kept up to date.

The educators are involved with organising in-services, ward training on new equipment,

annual recertification training (Basic life support, back care, drug calculation and neonatal

resuscitation) and supervision and monitoring of post graduate midwifery students and

computer courses (eg; K2 CTG interpretation and Bloodsafe courses). They are also

involved with the running of hospital based nurse training courses.

At present in the department, there has being a lot of time spent updating the policy and

procedure manuals. This has included the development of new policies. The educators have

being involved with the research required to complete this task. The project team leader

(level 2, clinical nurse) has being the principle researcher for the project. Both educators

monitor the research being done around the world, via the internet and update a ‘articles of

interest’ folder for staff to read.

The department does have a research portfolio team, which comprises of two level 2’s and

four level 1’s. Their role is to monitor appropriate midwifery journals, be it printed or on the

internet, for articles of interest. They then review these articles, for appropriate supporting

evidence. If deemed appropriate, the article or articles are brought up in a meeting with the

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Nurse Unit Manager, educators and Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. If it is

supported in the meeting, the policy and procedure manual is modified to reflect this new

information.

From the survey results, a lot of respondents do not believe that the educators provide enough

support to staff on the floor (3 yes they do, 4 no they do no and 1 not always). I believe this

may have to do with the educators work load within the hospital. They are not always

available in the department when they are rostered on as educators. In practice this is not

good, but the educators are expected to assist in hospital based training as well as ward

training.

Hospital Training

In-services on the ward are held infrequently. No set roster of when they are to be held, or

subject matter is displayed for staff. At present, they appear to be held at one per month, and

most of them are held with sales representatives. In-services are usually held between 1430

hours and 1500 hours, during a normal working week (Monday to Friday). So the majority of

people attending are the afternoon shift staff.

From the survey results, the majority believed that there were enough in-services held (6:1).

Also they state that they would like to see more in-services (5:2). The biggest dislike to in-

services, was the time they were held. Six respondents disagreed with the 1430 to 1500hrs

time frame in which the in-services were held.

Within other wards in this hospital and other hospitals I have worked at, in-services are held

between 3 to 5 times a week. The dates and subject matter are usually posted for all staff to

see. Most wards will display in-services for the upcoming calendar month.

The hospital runs a wide range of courses. Some are specific to nursing, such as basic life

support, cannulation and ECG interpretation, others are general to QH, such as preceptorship

courses and computer courses. The hospital training department, releases a large poster at the

beginning of the year, outlining all the courses it runs. The poster is easy to read and all you

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have to do is put in an application form to your Nurse Unit Manager. Most courses are run at

least twice a year.

From the survey results, all the respondents were happy with the courses offered by the

hospital. The complaints from respondents came when they tried to get time off to attend

thesecourses (6:1, 6 had problems). All respondents were in agreement when asked if they

should be paid to attend hospital training.

Professional Development Assistance

All survey respondents knew that QH provided some sort of financial support for

professional development. What type of support and how to access it was another question. I

attempted to find information myself from the QH intranet in regards to financial /

professional development assistance. It was not easy to find, unless you know the name of

the program involved. It would be good if QH would make this information more accessible.

From the survey, some respondents knew of available scholarships, sara’s leave and

professional development assistance and leave, yet few knew about all of the programs.

All who took part in the survey stated that they would attend more training courses and even

attend conferences, if they knew that they could gain financial assistance. In this stage of the

survey, I included open ended questions, for I wanted to see what type of assistance people

were applying for.

Out of seven respondents, only four have ever applied for financial assistance. One person

had applied for sara’s leave, one for 2 x conferences and 2 x training courses, one sara’s and

professional development leave and the last for professional development assistance. One

respondent said that they were new to QH and did not know how to access the assistance.

External Training Courses and Conferences

Staff attendance to external training (workshops)and conferences was also assessed through

the survey. Three out of the seven respondents had attended either workshops or conferences.

Though a confidential survey, I did know that 2out of the 3 are senior midwives.

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Of the three who had attended external workshops or conferences, all 3 stated that they found

it was worth the cost and educational. The four who had not attended and courses or

conferences, had done so, due to financial cost, travel and accommodation issues. All four

expressed wishes to attend these types of functions and would like to receive financial

assistance to attend. In the next 12 months, five respondents are considering attending a

conference or workshop.

It appears that cost is a large component in people making up their minds to attend a

workshop or conference. Conference fee’s can be between $300 to $500, with travel and

accommodation, being on top of the cost if not held in the town you live in.

Ward Issues

Hospitals and in particular wards have many problems in being able to assist staff with

professional development. To allow staff time off, the wards must consider the following;

Staffing levels - due to increasing workloads and decreasing staff levels.

Roster issues - can be inflexible, could be short staffed, have staff on or

requesting holidays and staff on sick leave.

Leap, 2003.

Though I do think that QH could do more by making access to professional assistance easier

to those who wish to use it, staffing issues are always going to be an issue. On a personal

experience, I have heard of sara’s leave for many years, but I did not know what it was for or

how to access it. Many of my work mate when asked, could not answer the question. It was

not until this year where the maternity NUM approached me in regards to sara’s leave, that it

was explained.

Plan

Unfortunately we do not live in the perfect world and many issues can impact on a plan. We

have seen that there are financial issues, staffing issues and rostering issues to be taken into

account when planning professional development.

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Without financial assistance, extra staffing, my plan would not work. Why? Extra staff

would be required to plan and implement a training program for the ward. I would not use

present staff, for most are already wearing more than one hat. That is working two jobs on

the ward. So this would leave them very little time to look after the professional

development. To make it easier, this plan is designed more for the perfect world, where staff

and financial assistance is always available.

Many changes can be made within the department, in regards to professional development.

The simplest change would be to allow easieraccess to QH financial assistance. Maybe have

it in a folder somewhere, or make shortcuts on the computer to where you can find all the

relevant information. The hardest idea to implement, would be the availability of the extra

staff required. The staff required to fill in the holes in the roster and run the program.

An in-service program needs to be instigated. A minimum of 2 in-services a week to begin

with. A detailed program to be made up for the calendar month, detailing when in-services

are to be done, as well as the subject matter and who will be presenting the topic.

I would involve the level 2’s and mid to senior level 1 midwives to present midwifery

relevant subjects. Each subject to be presented at least 3 times that month, allowing more

people to hear it.

Unfortunately, 1430hrs to 1500hrs time slot would have to stay, as it is the most appropriate

time slot for department in-services. The morning shift are still on the floor, allowing the

afternoon shift time for education. This also allows them to have their first break as well.

This time slot is also good, as the department has no permanent night duty staff, so only

requiring the day time session.

In regards to the roster, I would like to give priority to staff applying for professional

development courses or conferences. Unfortunately, ward skill mix and staffing levels, needs

to be monitored.

A simplified plan would look like;

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 ➢ Increase in-services to 2 per week

➢ A printed roster of dates and subjects for each calendar month needs to

made up.

➢ Easier access to QH financial assistance to be organised

➢ More staff on roster

➢ Priority given to staff wishing professional development on roster

➢ Include lv2 and lv1 midwives in presenting in-services, allow them

some choice in the subject matter they present.

➢ Acquire lap top computer and projector, have staff present topic in

power point if possible, collect if possible and build library.

From the responses of respondents, all stated that they would be happy to do training and

attend conferences, if they had financial assistance. So access to assistance is important. In

the perfect world, everybody would be able to get the time off to attend these functions, be it

training or a conference. It would assist in making staff happier when they are allowed to go

and get the relevant time off and assistance with paying for it. Staff that are regularly been

refused time off for these courses or conferences could become unhappy. Resentment in the

workforce, can undermine a department, making for a place where people do not want to

work and thereby affecting the care provided.

Word count 2348

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 Appendix A

Survey questionnaire

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Reference List
Leap, N, Barclay, L. & Sheehan, A. (2003). Results of the Australian midwifery action
project education survey. Paper 2: barriers to effective midwifery education as
identified by midwifery course coordinators. Australian Midwifery Journal, 16(3),
06-11.
All staff who participated in the survey and all staff on the floor who were willing to answer
my questions. The Maternity Ward. The Rockhampton Base Hospital November
2008.