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Background: The mother-infant relationship plays a crucial role in individual and community health. The nature of the mother-infant relationship can influence the social and emotional development of the infant, impacting their lifelong health. Midwives are key in providing health promotion for women and babies and are ideally placed to support women during the early development of the mother-infant relationship., Aims: This study aimed to explore new mothers' perspectives on developing the early mother-infant relationship to inform midwifery practice., Methods: This study is phase one of a mixed-method, exploratory sequential design project. In this phase, 14 women were interviewed within six weeks of birth to explore experiences that influenced the developing relationship with their baby. To support reflection women were provided with a visual prompt activity. These interviews informed the co-design workshops to develop an intervention to support midwives to promote the early mother infant relationship. A research protocol was published prior to undertaking the study, however as this research did not seek to modify or measure any heath related outcomes it was not registered as a clinical trial., Results: Key themes from the interviews included: making moments that matter; the role of the village; feeling like I'm winning; supportive health professionals, and forming a new family. These themes underpinned strategies to support the mother-infant relationship., Conclusion: The findings from this study offer ways for midwives to support the emerging mother-infant relationship during the early postnatal period. Facilitating mothers to engage with their baby as well as integrating key people is important. Midwives also play a key role in building maternal confidence and competence. Further research is needed to embed and evaluate strategies in midwifery practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Increasing numbers of children with complex health needs (CWCHN) are being cared for in their own homes. Caring for a child with complex health needs is an enormous task for a family and so access to suitable respite is critical for the wellbeing of all members of the family. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the concept of 'suitable' respite from the perspective of the carer and whether suitable respite is currently available. Method: A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Five people who acted as a carer for a child with complex health agreeing to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the home of the carers and interview data analyses with a thematic analysis. Results: This study identified some of the barriers and enablers for families when accessing respite services for CWCHN. Carers describe optimal respite for these children to be similar to a family home with suitable facilities, equipment and activities for children. Flexible respite services and enthusiastic competent staff were considered very important by the family carers. Conclusion: Further research is needed to better understand the complexities of care for CWCHN and to identify effective strategies to support family carers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Successful transition to practice programs that use competency-based assessment require the involvement of all staff, especially those undertaking the preceptor role. Methods: Qualitative data were collected using interview methods. Participants were 14 newly employed nurses and 7 preceptors in the child and family community health service in South Australia. Participant narratives were recorded electronically, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using the paradigm of critical social science. Results: Five themes were identified that describe enablers as well as barriers to applying a flexible transition to practice program using competency-based assessment. These included flexibility in the program design, flexibility on the part of preceptors, flexibility to enable recognition of previous learning, flexibility in the assessment of competencies, and flexibility in workload. Conclusion: To ensure successful application of a transition to practice program using competency-based assessment, preceptors must understand the flexible arrangements built into the program design and have the confidence and competence to apply them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the love that exists between children with disabilities and their parents and the positive contribution that children with a disability make to families and communities, caring for a child with a disability can be difficult and demanding for parents, carers and the family. Their interaction with the many and varied health professionals they encounter can serve to either ameliorate or exacerbate these difficulties. In this paper we report on a qualitative needs analysis undertaken as part of a project to develop disability awareness resources for generic health professionals (GHP). Data were collected through focus groups ( n = 5) and individual interviews ( n = 7) with 34 parents/carers and was analysed using a process of thematic analysis. 'Partnership' was identified as the overarching theme that answers the question 'What do parents/carers want from a GHP?' Three further themes were identified that together tell the partnership 'story'. These are: 'The GHP-parent partnership', 'Qualities of a GHP', and 'The role of advocacy in the GHP-parent partnership'. Implications are presented that highlight the importance of advocacy in GHP-parent partnerships and suggest improvements in GHP education and preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To explore how a group of midwives achieved a work–life balance working within a caseload model of care with flexible work hours and on-call work. Design: in-depth interviews were conducted and the data were analysed using a data-driven thematic analysis technique. Setting: Children, Youth and Women''s Health Service (CYWHS) (previously Women''s and Children''s Hospital), Adelaide, where a midwifery service known as Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) offers a caseload model of care to women within a midwife-managed unit. Participants: 17 midwives who were currently working, or had previously worked, in MGP. Findings: analysis of the midwives’ individual experiences provided insight into how midwives managed the flexible hours and on-call work to achieve a sustainable work–life balance within a caseload model of care. Key conclusions: it is important for midwives working in MGP to actively manage the flexibility of their role with time on call. Organisational, team and individual structure influenced how flexibility of hours was managed; however, a period of adjustment was required to achieve this balance. Implications: the study findings offer a description of effective, sustainable strategies to manage flexible hours and on-call work that may assist other midwives working in a similar role or considering this type of work setting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, the authors describe how they used a hybrid process of inductive and deductive thematic analysis to interpret raw data in a doctoral study on the role of performance feedback in the self-assessment of nursing practice. The methodological approach integrated data-driven codes with theory-driven ones based on the tenets of social phenomenology. The authors present a detailed exemplar of the staged process of data coding and identification of themes. This process demonstrates how analysis of the raw data from interview transcripts and organizational documents progressed toward the identification of overarching themes that captured the phenomenon of performance feedback as described by participants in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]