MDWF12007 - Professional Midwifery Practice: Legal and Ethical Frameworks

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will explore the role and scope of the midwife and the legal and ethical parameters framing midwifery practice. You will explore the philosophical and historical contexts underpinning the midwifery profession including the discourses that influence women's decision making in relation to their care. Legal and ethical parameters framing midwifery practice and their importance to professional accountability will be critically examined; specifically the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), the Midwife Standards for Practice and Code of Conduct for Midwives, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) International Code of Ethics for Midwives and other relevant Australian legislation. You will also be introduced to the Australian maternity services, models of midwifery care available, and the provision of inclusive culturally safe practice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Co-requisite:  MDWF12003 Midwifery Practice 1

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2024

Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Group Discussion 30%
2. Critical Review 30%
3. Portfolio 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 12.9% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: SUTE Feedback.
Feedback
The feedback I received was so thorough and helpful, it was greatly appreciated the time it took to leave it and help towards my study.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator should continue to provide students with detailed and thorough feedback in order to support students with their future assessments.
Action Taken
The unit coordinator continued to provide detailed guidance and support via meaningful, non-punitive feedback to assist students with their assessments and enhance their academic writing and critical thinking skills.
Source: SUTE Feedback.
Feedback
I feel there was too many assessment items for this unit. Overall with all the blog posts and replies plus the two other large written assignments there were 10 assessment pieces over the 12 weeks of this unit. It was incredibly difficult.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator should review the current assessment task structure and consider ways in which the blog post requirements may be reduced or changed to better fit the student workload.
Action Taken
The unit coordinator designed assessments to build upon each other, so that the tasks in the Discussion Forum provided guidance for students when addressing the larger assessment tasks. This alignment helped students manage their time more effectively and handle their workload better.
Source: SUTE Feedback.
Feedback
Surprisingly, I found this unit very enjoyable! Tanya has been so supportive with the unit throughout the term and this has made the transition back to studying much more bearable.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator should continue to provide students with the support required to complete their studies taking into consideration that some students have returned to study after an absence.
Action Taken
The unit coordinator adopted a practical approach to designing assessments, bridging theory with real-life experiences. This enabled students to apply their clinical knowledge to enhance their midwifery knowledge through cognitive development.
Source: Student zoom session
Feedback
I enjoyed the discussion forums. These were very topical and raised questions about how to remain woman-centred when facing ethical dilemmas. I really appreciated how it made me think about the woman and also my own student scope of practice, but there were a lot of forums which added to my stress.
Recommendation
Continue to provide engaging and thought-provoking topics that align with legal and ethical dilemmas in contemporary midwifery practice, stimulating student interest. Consider reducing the number of discussion topics across the term.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Moodle
Feedback
The written assessments are linked together and this helped me to complete assessments in a timely way.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will continue to provide structured assessments to improve understanding of theoretical concepts and demonstrate the application of legal and ethical frameworks to midwifery practice.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Apply the historical, philosophical, legal, and ethical concepts applicable to midwifery practice and their relationship to the professional scope of the registered midwife
  2. Analyse professional accountability in relation to the responsibilities and obligations of the midwife
  3. Explore the different models of maternity care and the professional discourses that influence women's decision making in relation to their care
  4. Integrate effective, culturally safe, and inclusive ethical decision making within the midwifery profession.

Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional requirements including the following:

The draft ANMAC Midwifery Education Standards (2020).

Standard 1 Safety of the public.

Standard 3 Program of study.

Standard 5: Student assessment.

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2017).

Clinical governance.

Partnering with consumers.

Preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infection.

Medication safety.

Comprehensive care.

Communicating for safety.

The NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice (2018).

Standard 1: Promotes evidence-based maternal health and wellbeing.

Standard 2: Engages in respectful partnerships and professional relationships.

Standard 3: Demonstrates the capability and accountability for midwifery practice.

Standard 5: Develops plans for midwifery practice.

Standard 6: Provides safe and quality midwifery practice.

The NMBA Code of Conduct for Midwives (2018).

Principle 1: Legal Compliance

Principle 2: Woman-centred practice.

Principle 3: Cultural practice and respectful relationships.

Principle 4: Professional behaviour.

Principle 7: Health and wellbeing.

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Code of Ethics for Midwives (2014).

Midwifery relationships.

Practice of midwifery.

Professional responsibilities of midwives.

Advancement of midwifery knowledge and practice.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Group Discussion • • •
2 - Critical Review • •
3 - Portfolio • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
9 - Social Innovation •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Group Discussion • • • • • • • •
2 - Critical Review • • • • • •
3 - Portfolio • • • • • • • •