What strategies would early career midwives find of benefit in order to develop, grow and maintain their resilience in the workplace?

The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bournemouth University, working in partnership with University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) is offering a Matched-Funded PhD Studentship. To apply for this Studentship you must be a midwife registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (UK).

The successful candidate will spend two days per week working as a registered midwife at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) and 3 days per week working on the PhD research study. The Studentship is for 4 years, which will begin in September 2018. You will be supported by an annual £14,777 stipend and an additional sum to support training and development costs during the Studentship.

The aim of this study is to identify, implement and review the effectiveness of an intervention to develop, grow and maintain the resilience of early (0-5 years) career midwives. The study will engage with early career midwives and stakeholders to help design and implement a relevant intervention. Acceptability and practicality of the intervention will be determined by field work, such as on-line, telephone and / or face-to-face interviews as justified by the student.

Each year, UHS employs approximately 10-20 newly qualified midwives from across the UK and is aware of the importance of retaining their staff. However, they are noticing that a number are leaving the profession within five years of qualifying, an observation noted at a national level by the Royal College of Midwives. This suggests the future of midwifery practice in the UK depends on early career midwives being able to cope with the complex emotional and physical demands of the profession and able to transition from student to qualified practitioner. A recent study investigated clinical midwives who self-identified they were resilient and had been in practice for longer than 15 years and explored what factors they suggested contributed to resilience. Recommendations from the study highlighted the need for further research, which includes midwives at different career stages and it is the early career (0-5 years) midwife that UHS is interested in.

The successful applicant will be supervised by Dr Catherine Angell, Principal Lecturer in Midwifery whose interests include the education of students and their strategies to cope with the demands of an undergraduate programme. Dr Sarah Eales, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health who has a key interest in Liaison Mental Health Care (the support of service users’ and practitioners’ mental health in non mental health settings).

This is a fully-funded PhD studentship which includes a stipend of £14,777 each year to support your living costs.

How to apply: Applications are made via our website using the Apply Online button below. If you have an enquiry about this project please contact us via the Email NOW button below, however your application will only be processed once you have submitted an application form as opposed to emailing your CV to us.

Candidates for funded PhD studentship must demonstrate outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 4 years.
The PhD Studentships are open to UK, EU and international students. Candidates for a PhD Studentship should demonstrate outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 4 years and must demonstrate:

• A 1st class honours degree and/or a relevant Master’s degree with distinction or equivalent.If English is not your first language you’ll need IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (with a minimum 6.0 in each component).

In addition to satisfying minimum entry criteria, BU will look closely at the qualities, skills and background of each candidate and what they can bring to their chosen research project in order to ensure successful completion.