The Attitudes of Midwives and Students in the Midwifery Department Towards Mentoring: A Qualitative Study

• Published in: International journal of caring sciences 2021-09, Vol.14 (3), p.1984-1992
• Main Authors: Demirel, Gulbahtiyar, Kocatas, Semra, Toker, Eylem, Doganer, Adem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Consent; Content analysis; Data analysis; Health sciences; Hospitals; Interviews; Mentors; Midwifery education; Qualitative research; Questionnaires; Skills; Sociodemographics; Software; Students; University faculty
• ISSN: 1791-5201; 1792-037X

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the attitudes of midwives and students in the midwifery department towards mentoring practice in midwifery education. Methods: The qualitative study sample consists of 30 midwifes, working in the city hospitals of Sivas Province and 42 senior student interns receiving education in the Midwifery Department of Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Health Sciences during June 2017. The obtained quantitative data were evaluated using numeric, percentage analyses, while the qualitative data were evaluated using content analysis. Results: During the in-depth interviews of the research, the majority of participating midwives (96.7%) and midwifery department students (92.9%) expressed a positive opinion, stating "mentoring practice is a requisite in midwifery education". Regarding the benefits of mentoring in midwifery education, midwives put emphasis on "development of knowledge and skills", "educating more qualified midwives and working with more qualified colleagues", and "improving the quality of patient-care"; while the students put emphasis on "experiencing a more effective education-training process" and "experiencing a better pre-professional preparation period". Conclusion: Findings of the research show that the majority of the participating midwives and students of the midwifery department stated positive opinions towards mentoring practice in midwifery education.