Graduate Diploma in Midwifery

Summary

Midwifery is a woman-centred, practice-based discipline. Midwives work with women and their babies and families across the childbearing year - while a woman is pregnant, during her labour and baby's birth and in the early parenting time. The Graduate Diploma in Midwifery, designed to prepare registered nurses to become midwives, is an online program based upon a partnership model where women and midwives work together to achieve best health outcomes for women and their babies.

The program is offered in partnership with health services - chiefly Hunter New England Health and North Sydney Central Coast Health.

Courses are offered online with compulsory on-campus workshop days at Callaghan Campus.

Program duration

The Graduate Diploma in Midwifery runs over four consecutive trimesters (15 months). In addition, compulsory on-campus workshop days are held at Callaghan Campus, and 12 months employment at a partner Area Health Service/Organisation at 0.7 full-time equivalent starts in the second program trimester.

Admission criteria

Bachelor of Nursing degree, or equivalent

Registered Nurse with a List A registration with the NSW Nurses Registration Board (or equivalent.)

Well-developed interpersonal and teamwork skills

Recent clinical experience working as a registered nurse, preferably in an acute medical - surgical environment, within the last four years

Compliance with Area Health Service employment requirements, including completion of a Criminal Record Check and a Prohibited Employment Declaration.

Please note: currently, the number of places in the Graduate Diploma in Midwifery is dependent on the availability of paid workplace contracts. Applications are assessed on merit and an offer of place into the Graduate Diploma in Midwifery includes a twelve-month contract in a health service midwifery unit.

How to apply

This program is only offered to Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents. Prospective students must lodge an application through either the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) or through Gradschool.com . For details of how to apply please visit either:

http://www.uac.edu.au

or

http://www.gradschool.com.au

Applicants must also submit further documentation to the University at the same time as the application for admission is submitted. To obtain the relevant forms and information please contact the Graduate Diploma in Midwifery Program Officer:

Telephone: 02 4921 5000
E-mail: enquirycentre@newcastle.edu.au

For other enquiries please contact Lyn Ebert, Graduate Diploma in Midwifery Program Convenor
Telephone: 02 4921 6766
E-mail: Lyn.Ebert@newcastle.edu.au 

For further information regarding your clinical placement please contact:

Gosford Hospital - Gosford
Julie-Anne Olaisen
Gosford Hospital Midwifery Educator
Nursing Development Unit - Education
North Sydney Central Coast Health
Telephone 02 4320 2111 page 18292
Email: jolaisen@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au

or

John Hunter Hospital - Newcastle
Susan Forbes
Midwifery Educator
Hunter New England Health
Telephone 02 4921 4462
email: Susan.Forbes@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

For clinical placements outside these areas, please contact Lyn Ebert, the Program Convenor.

Program Location

The program is offered online, with compulsory on campus workshop days at Callaghan Campus, and a paid contract as a student midwife at an approved hospital.

Program Description

The Graduate Diploma in Midwifery is an online course-work program which is supported face-to-face study days throughout the 15-month program at the University of Newcastle. Most learning is undertaken online via tutorials, guided weekly activities, online discussions, lecture notes, up-to-date readings and set assignments that contribute to a dynamic learning environment that is responsive to the contemporary clinical setting.

During the first trimester of the program, the courses Midwifery Practice 1 (NURS6160) and Midwifery Practice Issues (NURS6580) require the student to engage with seven allocated follow through experiences. Follow through experience means that students form relationships with women in order to learn how to become women-centered midwives. Students need to have had a minimum of five meaningful contacts (30 minutes or more duration) with each woman over the course of the childbearing year, in order for the experience to count as a follow through experience. At least one contact must be prior to the birth and at least one contact must be after the birth. Ideally the student will attend the woman's birth and participate directly in the woman's care, under the supervision of a registered midwife or doctor. It is expected that the follow through experiences will make up approximately 0.2FTE of the student's midwifery learning during the first trimester of study.

In addition to the follow through experiences, students must also complete six days of structured clinical teaching sessions, as follows:

• Two days held at the health facility in which they will engage in the workforce component;
• Two days as part of NURS6580; and
• Two days as part of NURS6160.

The first two study days are at the commencement of the program. During the remaining 15 months of the program the follow through experiences are continued. Some, perhaps most of these meetings will be in addition to paid employment as a midwifery student.

Students commence a workforce contract with the relevant health service or institution during the second trimester of study.  A minimum of 0.7FTE contract is required to meet the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board requirements. Prior to the commencement of the workforce contract students will be required to attend four study days, which include a clinical workshop on midwifery emergencies as part of Midwifery Practice 2 (NURS6170). Further study days are scheduled throughout the remainder of the 15 month program.

The online nature of the program allows busy people who have multiple roles and competing responsibilities to study at times suitable to them. Because online learning can be very useful but isolating, the midwifery program in the School of Nursing and Midwifery has supportive strategies in place to enhance midwifery learning and to build teaching/learning relationships. Assistance is readily available through e-mail and by phone from the Course Co-ordinator, the Program Convenor and administrative and IT support people. Each hospital involved in the clinical component of the program has midwifery educators and midwives whose responsibility it is to assist and teach midwifery students in the clinical setting.

Costs: Commonwealth Supported Students

The program is a Commonwealth Supported Program. For further information please refer to the following web sites - The University of Newcastle's fee website http://www.newcastle.edu.au/study/fees/ or the Department of Education, Science and Training's websites: http://www.backingaustraliasfuture.gov.au/student_info.htm

Approved Courses

The Graduate Diploma in Midwifery requires the completion of 80 units consisting of the following courses:

Successful completion of the program requires clinical midwifery experience, which is embedded in the courses Midwifery Practice 1, Midwifery Practice 2, Midwifery Practice 3 and Contemporary Midwifery.

Students undertake supernumerary experience in relation to their follow-through women during the first trimester. The other three trimesters include twelve months paid employment (workforce component) in addition to university studies and continuation of the follow-through experiences, 15 women in total, as a requirement. The workforce component may be undertaken at Hunter New England Health, North Sydney Central Coast Health or other health areas as negotiated.

Courses are delivered online with compulsory on campus workshop days at Callghan Campus.

Schedule

The relevant program schedule is available within the Degree Rules and Schedules  section of the Policy Library.