Preparing midwifery students for practice: the value of elective placements in enhancing midwifery practice: The value of elective placements in enhancing midwifery practice

An elective placement where students are facilitated to access different models of midwifery care was included in the 18 month Higher Diploma Midwifery programme in 2008 in a university in Ireland. All students since then have had the opportunity to experience this placement which is advocated by the regulatory board for Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland (NMBI). This paper details the integration of an elective placement referred to as an ‘observation week’ into the 18 month midwifery programme. It includes a description of the organisation of the observation week, a summary of services accessed by midwifery students, student evaluation of their experience and mechanisms for feedback of these experiences to our partners in clinical practice. The benefits and the challenges of the observation week are considered with reference to the published literature.