Advanced Midwife Practitioner, Candidate University Hospital

Details of Service

The Women & Infant’s Directorate for Maternity, Neonatology and Gynaecology is located in University Hospital Kerry, which is a Model 3 hospital. UHK has approximately 1,100 births per annum and has a tertiary referral centre to Cork University Maternity Hospital within Ireland South.

Maternity Services at University Hospital Kerry are delivered within HSE South West, Ireland South Women’s and Infants Directorate which is based on the principles of partnership and integration and strongly supports the involvement of the multidisciplinary team in service provision.

UHK is a site for clinical placements for student midwives and student nurses in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes delivered in partnership with University College Cork, University Of Limerick and Munster Technological University. Maternity Services, UHK incorporates the use of the MN-CMS (Maternal Newborn Clinical Management System) into care delivered at UHK.

There are four Maternity Units in Ireland South Women and Infants Directorate – University Hospital Kerry, University Hospital Waterford, Cork University Maternity Hospital and Tipperary University Hospital - spanning four of the largest counties in the country. Maternity Services includes Neonatology and Gynaecology as well as Midwifery and Obstetrics. The Group’s Primary Academic partner is University College Cork. A wide range of educational programmes and research is conducted within all hospitals in the Group.

The cAMP provides expert, autonomous care to women experiencing complications in pregnancy, with a particular focus on the diagnosis, management, and emotional support of women with threatened miscarriage, miscarriage, recurrent miscarriage (RM), and including ectopic pregnancy and pregnancies of unknown location (PUL), Mid trimester Pregnancy Loss and Stillbirth. The role includes clinical assessment, prescribing, and coordination of care within a multidisciplinary team.

Purpose of the post

The individual will undertake the academic preparation and develop the clinical and leadership skills, competencies and knowledge required to meet the criteria to be registered as a RAMP with NMBI. The scope of the cAMP role must reflect the incremental development of expertise and as such, the cAMP cannot deliver care as an autonomous practitioner.

The individual will complete and submit the necessary documentation for registration as an RAMP with NMBI. The value of the nursing/midwifery contribution as a distinct profession must be safeguarded and articulated in the development of new services led by advanced nurse/midwife practitioners, complementing rather than replacing current services delivered by doctors (NMBI 2017 p.9). The overall purpose of the post is to provide safe, timely, evidenced based midwife-led care to patients at an advanced midwifery level.

This involves undertaking and documenting a complete episode of patient care (assess, diagnose, plan, treat and discharge patients) according to collaboratively agreed protocols and scope of practice in the clinical setting; demonstrating advanced clinical and theoretical knowledge, critical thinking, clinical leadership and decision making skills. The advanced practice role demonstrates a high degree of knowledge, skill and experience that is applied within the nurse/midwife-patient/client relationship to achieve optimal outcomes through critical analysis, problem solving and accurate decision-making (NMBI, 2017).

The cAMP will manage a caseload depending on service demand and acuity to include

o Women with threatened miscarriage and miscarriage

o Suspected or confirmed ectopic pregnancies.

o Pregnancy of unknown location (PUL)

o Post-management follow-up (following expectant, medical, or surgical management).

o Women with recurrent miscarriage (RM)

o Bereavement support, clinical triage, and referrals to gynaecology, mental health, and community services.

o Clear, compassionate communication regarding results, next steps, and recovery expectations, when to seek urgent care, support and access in subsequent pregnancies.

o Telephone or in-person follow-up consultations to assess physical and emotional recovery.

o Referral of patients to gynaecology, mental health, bereavement counselling, fertility services or the pregnancy loss clinic as appropriate.

o Escalation of care for women with ongoing symptoms e.g. retained pregnancy tissue or ongoing bleeding, molar pregnancy

o The development of a pregnancy after loss clinic which will incorporate a pre conceptual clinic

o The development of a home visit pathway for families following stillbirth

Central to this is the provision of quality care, a safe environment and processes for women by the use of evidence based clinical guidelines that address patient expectations, promote wellness and evaluate care given. The role will provide clinical leadership and professional scholarship in order to develop midwifery practice and health policy at local, regional and national level. The role will contribute to midwifery research to shape and advance midwifery practice, education and health care policy at local, national and international levels

Informal Enquiries

We welcome enquiries about the role.

Name: Sandra O Connor, Director of Midwifery, UHK

Email: sandra.oconnor@hse.ie

Telephone: 087 3376958

Contact Meagan McGlynn- People Resourcing, meagan.mcglynn@hse.ie– for enquiries relating to the recruitment process