Investigating international management and organization standards in midwifery and proposing appropriate national standards

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, it is essential that educational systems to move towards effective and optimal education. The necessity of adaptation of managerial and educational programs with professional improvement and standards is felt well. Since midwifery education plays an important role in the public health improvement, this study tried to determine international management and organization standards in midwifery education and to suggest appropriate national standards.

Methods: This was a triangulation study conducted in 2003. The research samples consisted of managers of midwifery department with bachelor degree and also, the members of the division of midwifery board who were selected by convenience and census sampling, respectively. In order to suggest domestic standards, data collection was performed in 6 stages. After a vast research and collecting the standards of different countries through stages 1-3, the proposed areas and standards were determined by experts in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Through stages 4-6, Delphi method was used to take votes. Finally, the results were analyzed via descriptive statistics.

Results: The findings of this study included 2 distinct areas and 37 suggested standards for mission and goals (13 standards) and management and organization (24 standards).

Conclusion: Extracting management and organization standards in midwifery education and suggesting appropriate national standards can help the planner collect midwifery mission and goals. These are important for designing management structures and finally, for evaluation of management systems in midwifery disciplines