MDWF13004 - Ethical, Legal and Professional Midwifery Practice

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will provide an understanding of the legal and ethical parameters framing midwifery practice. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Competencies for the midwife will be examined in conjunction with Australian legislation relating to midwifery practice. You will develop critical thinking in relation to professional accountability. You will explore the various discourses that influence womens' decision making in relation to their care. This unit will enable you to understand the importance of decision frameworks that underpin clinical practice in the provision of safe care for the woman, fetus, newborn and their families.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-req

MDWF13001 Cultural and Pyschosocial Diversity in Midwifery

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 - 2021

Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2022 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. Written Assessment 30%
3. Written Assessment 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

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 18.18% 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
Tanya is a wonderful teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed learning from her throughout this degree.
Recommendation
To continue to ensure content is delivered in an interesting and interactive way.
Action Taken
The content continued to be delivered in an interesting and interactive way.
Source: SUTE Feedback
Feedback
Great interaction from lecturers and informational sources
Recommendation
To continue to provide weekly lectures to accompany the study guides in order to help students understand the complex legal concepts.
Action Taken
Weekly lectures continued to be provided to accompany the study guides in order to help students understand the complex legal concepts.
Source: SUTE Feedback
Feedback
I would like to bring attention to the three biggest assignments of the term 4 coursework course being due within a week of each other. This put a lot of stress on myself trying to finish this degree.
Recommendation
To ensure in the future that larger assessment tasks are well spaced to enable students to keep on top of the workload.
Action Taken
The larger assessment tasks were well spaced to enable students to keep on top of the workload.
Source: SUTE Unit Comments
Feedback
I was not a fan of the group discussion posts. However, I do see the benefit in them in getting students to interact with one another.
Recommendation
To continue to encourage peer-to-peer interaction through blog posts but offer some flexibility on the topic of discussion.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: SUTE Unit Comments
Feedback
When I saw we had a Law & Ethics subject, I initially dreaded the thought of having to complete the coursework. However, I loved the way Tanya made the coursework engaging and relevant to future midwives. It was fantastic. I was surprised I actually enjoyed learning, this is because of the way the content was taught and delivered.
Recommendation
To continue to ensure the content is engaging and relevant to contemporary midwifery practice.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Examine the legal and ethical parameters of midwifery practice.
  2. Explain professional accountability in relation to responsibilities and obligations of the midwife.
  3. Explore the different types of professional discourses that influence women's decision making in relation to their care.
  4. Demonstrate effective decision making within the midwifery framework.

NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice

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 4: Undertakes comprehensive assessments.

Standard 5: Develops plans for midwifery practice.

Standard 6: Provides safe and quality midwifery practice.

Standard 7: Evaluates outcomes to improve midwifery practice.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Group Discussion
2 - Written Assessment
3 - Written Assessment
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
8 - Ethical practice
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 - Written Assessment
3 - Written Assessment