Gender based study: Novice midwives’ lived experiences of induction of practice in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Induction means a training that follows the orentation process of novice midwives whose gender in this case were all females during the  first six months of practice in the labour wards, aimed to make them feel at ease and familiar with the working environment. Global  studies support that an effective induction programme for novice midwives can improve patient outcomes in a labour ward. The aim of  this research was to develop induction strategies to guide novice midwives in a labour ward in order to empower them from novice to  competent midwives. The study has a bias for selection of female midwives as they dominate midwifery profession and have mostly  personal experiences of children birth. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was adopted to achieve the study.  Purposive sampling was used with the sample size determined by data saturation. An interview schedule was drawn for data collection  which was done through semistructured in-depth individual interviews. Data analysis made use of the thematic approach through an  open coding system which resulted in three major themes. They are: (i) Experiences of novice midwives regarding their induction in  labour wards during the first six months of practice; (ii) Views of operational nurse managers regarding novice midwives’ induction  during the first six months of practice; (iii) Support of maternity area managers regarding novice midwives during the first six months of  practice. This research study found the induction of novice midwives to be a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. The study concluded  that some novice midwives were satisfied with the induction received, whereas the majority were dissatisfied. Novice midwives  acknowledged gaps for improvement and offered useful suggestions for the development of induction strategies.