5-A FIRST From Midwife/ PhD candidate to Midwifery Lecturer The Practical Application of Lessons Learned and Transferred from Attending Previous IAHC Conferences Tina South, RM, PhD (c) is a Midwife, PhD candidate and lecturer at the University of West London. She was introduced to the IAHC by Dr Marilyn Ray and has embraced being part of this caring community. Her PhD focused on the lived experience of childbearing midwives, which incorporated her passion for midwifery and her interest in who cares for the carers. Tina is delighted to have started to work collaboratively with Dr Colleen Maykut of Grant MacEwan University and hopes this is the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership together in caring.
From Midwife/ PhD candidate to Midwifery Lecturer the practical application of lessons learned and transferred from attending previous IAHC conferences Tina South tina.south@uwl.ac.uk Overview Lessons learned from IAHC 2011 and 2012 How IAHC was instrumental in my job application Reality of becoming a midwifery lecturer Introducing the UWL Caring Circle Feedback from students Where is it going? Lessons learned from IAHC 2011 and 2012 1
Influential to my new role 2011 2012 Reality of becoming a midwifery lecturer Introducing the UWL Caring Circle What is a Caring Circle? Caring Circles are communities of people with a commitment to caring who are motivated to take action in relation to issues of concern. Each Caring Circle is different and will have its own personality based on its membership. Aims: Students gain an opportunity to consider different philosophies of caring, whilst exploring the creative side of midwifery practice. Students will nurture their creativity and develop their sense of compassion and caring. Objectives: Students attend regular extra curricular sessions and participate in activities like reading, knitting, singing, dance, visual art, story telling and drama. 2
Survey Monkey 1. Would you be interested in participating in a Caring Circle, which will give you the opportunity to explore the concept of human caring, discuss the theory practice gap when caring for women and their families in practice and provide a forum to explore the creative nature of midwifery? Yes No Evolving Philosophy Whilst we believe that care should be centred around the needs of women and their families, we recognise that we will not have nurturing and caring at the bedside if we fail to nurture and care for ourselves and our colleagues (Sherwood, 1991, p.86). This Caring Circle aims to provide student midwives with an opportunity to explore beliefs in both Caring and the Art of Midwifery, in a sensitive and non intrusive manner. Although opinions at times may differ, members will have respect for each other, so that an environment can be developed in which feelings about caring can be shared openly. This is so that all members feel able to discuss matters that are important to them both as individual members and as a community. 1. Caring I always feel cared for by my colleagues and as a result am always able to give my best when caring for women I almost always give my best when caring for women but it s hard as sometimes times I feel under supported I don t ever feel like I can care for women in the way I want to because I don t feel supported to do so Comments: 3
2. Compassion I am always able to empathise with women in my care and my colleagues I am sometimes able to empathise with women in my care and my colleagues, depending on my direct experience of what they are going through I find it very difficult to put myself in the situation of others Comments 3. Communication I am always able to express my own opinions amongst my own student cohort I am sometimes able to express my own opinions amongst my own student cohort I find it very difficult to express my own opinions amongst my own student cohort Comments 4. Creativity I believe creativity plays a vital role in midwifery and I consider myself to be a creative individual I can be creative but don t see the link with midwifery I see how midwifery is a creative practice but don t consider myself creative I do not consider myself or the profession of midwifery to be creative. Comments 4
5. Community I value the opportunity to work across student cohorts I sometimes find it helpful to work with students from other cohorts I don t find it helpful to work with students from other cohorts Comments 6. Commitment I believe the Caring Circles will be a valuable for my learning and development I am unsure if the Caring Circles will be useful to me I am not interested in attending the Caring Circles Comments Introducing the UWL Caring Circle 5
Feedback from students I wanted to tell you that the Caring Circle meeting was just lovely, it was exactly what i needed. I really think that it fills the gap in our course and I cannot wait for the next meeting! Where is it going? Developing our sense of community Where is it going? Developing our sense of community 6
Where is it going? Developing our sense of community Next year? Thank you 7
References Association of Human Caring (IAHC) (2011) : The Intersection of Caring and Quality: Nursing Practice, Education and Research. Proceedings of the 32nd International Association for Human Caring Conference. San Antonio, Texas, USA June 1, June 2, June 3 & June 4,2011 Association of Human Caring (IAHC) (2012) Caring Connections: Research, Practice, Education. Proceedings of the 33rd International Association for Human Caring Conference. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA May 30, May 31, June 1, & June 2, 2012 Johns, C. (1994) The Burford NDU model: Caring in practice. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell Sherwood, G. (1991) Expressions of nurses caring: the role of the compassionate healer In : Gaut, D.A. and Leininger, M.(eds) Caring: The compassionate healer. New York: National League for Nursing Press pp.79 88 Thampapillai, S. (2009) [Online] Teddy bear hospital: where clinical gets cuddly, Student BMJ 2009;17:b4912. Accessed 2 nd April 2013 8