NHS guide to Careers in Midwifery - Keele University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

18 Careers in midwifery What’s your next step? We hope this booklet will have given you some idea of the many opportunities on offer for midwives in the NHS. If you have decided that you want to join the NHS team as a midwife, your next step depends on your starting point. NHS Careers can provide further information on how to apply for training and you can also consult your local careers adviser. If you need a degree, UCAS can advise on which universities offer the relevant courses. The individual universities will be able to tell you what qualities and characteristics they look for in applicants. For example, getting some work experience is an excellent way of showing your commitment and enthusiasm. If you are considering a change of career, volunteering or shadowing an established professional in your spare time is a useful way to find out more about the field of work that you wish to pursue and can be invaluable in terms of making contacts. Getting some work experience is an excellent way of showing your commitment and enthusiasm Here is a checklist of things you should be doing, whether you’re still at school, studying for your degree or looking for a change in direction: • Have you explored routes into your chosen career? You will need to gain a degree in midwifery but you could work your way up from healthcare assistant roles, or could convert from nursing. • Are there any particular skills or experience that will improve your chances of getting into your chosen career? • Have you enquired about opportunities to volunteer or do relevant work experience? • Have you investigated further qualifications you might need for your chosen role? • Have you searched the NHS Jobs website or spoken to your local trust to get an idea of the type of vacancies available? Whatever position you’re in right now, the NHS Careers service can help. For more information, please call 0845 60 60 655, email advice@nhscareers.nhs.uk or visit www.nhscareers.nhs.uk To search for midwifery jobs in the NHS, visit www.jobs.nhs.uk, and for more information about professional bodies, please visit www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/list/contacts
telephone 0845 60 60 655 email advice@nhscareers.nhs.uk Careers in midwifery 19 CASE STUDY Name: Georgina Sosa Job title: clinical midwifery manager, James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk Entry route: general nursing followed by diploma in midwifery Georgina decided to become a midwife at the age of 12, after attending antenatal checks with her mother while she was pregnant with Georgina’s siblings. After working in A&E for a year, she took a midwifery diploma. She appreciates the varied opportunities to specialise. When I trained, unlike now, you couldn’t go straight into midwifery as you had to have a year’s experience as a nurse. So, after a year working in A&E, I completed a midwifery diploma course. After qualifying, I worked full time as a midwife and achieved first-class honours in a part-time midwifery degree. I was a senior midwife at the Whittington Hospital, north London, and then moved to Norfolk. I got a senior midwife post, and within three months became labour ward coordinator and then a labour ward manager. A year after that, I became clinical midwifery manager – now I co-ordinate management on the central delivery suite and the antenatal and postnatal wards. When I was studying, I did a dissertation on female genital mutilation (FGM) and eventually became a FGM specialist midwife as part of my role. We also have to deal with sensitive issues such as domestic violence, screening programmes for chromosomal abnormalities, HIV and hepatitis. Midwifery gives fantastic choices as you can specialise in areas in which you gain expertise, like teenage pregnancy, diabetes or drug abuse, depending on the needs of your local population. You can also go into audit and research or consultant midwifery. Lecturing at universities is another option. You can also change your hours. For example, you can reduce them when you have a baby or study, and increase them again when things calm down. I did a master’s degree while reducing my hours. I know most people say they ‘want to care’ for people, but that is right at the core of it – you have to want to make a difference. You need to be motivated, energetic and enjoy change as the NHS is always changing.
Page 1 and 2: Careers in midwifery Join the team
Page 3 and 4: Foreword Midwives often describe th
Page 5 and 6: telephone 0845 60 60 655 email advi
Page 19: telephone 0845 60 60 655 email advi
Page 23: FOR FURTHER COPIES OF THIS BOOKLET

NHS guide to Careers in Midwifery - Keele University

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?