Navigating the transition: Graduate midwives' experiences with the implementation of a formal practice assessment...

New graduate midwives report dissatisfaction, stress and fear with a lack of structured clinical support and lack of personalised learning objectives. There is no practice assessment tool currently used to benchmark midwives practice in their graduate year.

In Australia there is no program for graduate midwives that includes use of a performance appraisal tool to provide benchmarks of clinical performance against the professional practice standards. Such an instrument has the potential to prompt a discussion between assessor and new graduate and facilitate a critical reflection on practice.

The aim of this study was to explore graduate midwives experience of the implementation of a practice assessment tool.

This study used a descriptive qualitative design. Twelve graduate midwives were purposively sampled from one hospital in Australia and participated in focus group interviews. Data were analysed using an inductive approach.

Three themes were generated: The influence of a sociopolitical environment on professional development; a paradox of stability amid uncertainty and a catalyst for practice improvement.

Pragmatic improvements for the assessment process including familiarity of the assessor, allowing time to adapt to new clinical areas and having transparent assessment schedules. Organisational factors need to be addressed to support optimal graduate development within the clinical environment.

The practice assessment tool when used in the correct context and by suitable assessors is an appropriate tool that can be used to provide objective feedback to graduate midwives and prompt reflective practice.