Midwives education in Saudi Arabia challenges and opportunities

Document Type:Coursework

Subject Area:Nursing

Document 1

Since that time, there have been major leaps and bounds in the nursing sector in the country where the country has experienced both success and challenges. This is an aspect which has to be looked into with careful detail to learn from the midwifery past, reflecting on the present situation which will then inform the course of preparing for the future of the nursing department in the country. This paper therefore focuses on the midwifery education in KSA and explores several ways to alleviate the problem. Educational Challenges for Midwife in KSA There have been several educational challenges which have dented the progress of midwifery in KSA, and one of them is the increased demand for facilitation of nursing education in the country and subsequent services.

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In international terms, nursing education continues from diploma to the attainment of associate degrees to prepare the nurses for healthcare delivery (Alsheri, 2016). The Ministry of Health manages these programs in the country while the Ministry of Higher education is the one which manages BSN education. A consideration on integration or upgrade to the program would require prudent long-term planning taking time to the immediate need for knowledgeable and skillful midwives in the country (Alsheri, 2016). Challenging would make this endeavor of integration such that it will lead to job description overlapping at the different levels of the profession. The other challenge of in the midwifery education in the country is that it is more inclined to hospital-oriented education. Research has shown that most of the nurses in KSA perceive nursing as an occupational choice.

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Understaffed facilities lead to overworked nurses and reduction of overall output in healthcare delivery. This would, therefore, result in the midwives suffering from work burn out, or developing fatigue-based diseases, all of which can lead to more understaffing in hospitals (Ahmed Al-neami, 2016). Even though midwives are vital tenets in the provision of health care, world health statistics, by the WHO have indicated that there are 49 midwives per 1000 people in Saudi Arabia as of 2017. This is about half of the midwife’s ratio in the United Kingdom which is 88 per 1000 people. This shows that they are understaffed, causes fatigue, burn out and absenteeism, resulting in poor health care delivery. Every midwife in the united states should have a bachelor’s degree from a verifiable college and obtain an RN license before the commencement of midwifery practice.

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Every midwife should have a clinical experience which meets the Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Education (ACNM2008) (LoGiudice & O'Shea, 2018). These clinical skills involve the nurse having the ability to manage women health care such as pregnancy and birth, reproductive healthcare, infant caregiving and the management of STD infections to spouses. In the United Kingdom, the professional organization of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the one mandated with managing and regulating the midwives and nurses in England, North Ireland, Wales and Scotland (Gray, Malott, Davis & Sandor, 2016). It is ensuring that nurses and midwives provide quality health care to the public by ensuring they set the quality of education for nurses and midwives, performance, training and conduct. The ministry of education should also create a midwifery curriculum as per the international standards for better skills and knowledge acquisition.

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For many years, KSA has had only diploma programs for midwifery and nursing which is insufficient in providing the right expertise of the delivery of midwife health care in the country. There are several advantages of initiating undergraduate nursing and midwifery degrees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The nursing and midwifery would seize to be part of the department of medicine and be independent. Empowerment and autonomy to the nursing and midwives would lead to higher service delivery in health facilities and beyond. Having skilled midwives in KSA for postnatal, natal and antenatal will be key in reducing prenatal and maternal mortality. There is a need for the midwife education in KSA to be standardized by the introduction of bachelor’s degree such as in countries such as the western countries.

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Also, the midwife status in the country should be advanced for it to be perceived as a worthwhile career, maintain competence and safe practice. References Abdulla Almadani, N.  The Implications of Nursing Degree Education for Future Workforce Planning in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study (Doctor of Philosophy). 21833/ijaas. 015 Alsheri, A. Challenges facing nursing education and practice in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from https://www. omicsonline. 006 Al-Yami, M. , Galdas, P. , & Watson, R. Leadership style and organizational commitment among nursing staff in Saudi Arabia.  Journal Of Nursing Management. midw. 018 Hamdan Alsaqri, S.  A Survey of Intention to Leave, Job Stress, Burnout and Job Satisfaction among Nurses Employed in the Ha’il Region’s Hospitals in Saudi Arabia(Doctor of Philosophy). RMIT University Melbourne Australia.

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