Tripartite assessment of learners during practice placements in midwifery pre-registration programmes.

Purpose - The School of Nursing and Midwifery at De Montfort University has been consistently successful in producing student midwives who are, by the end of their chosen programme, fit for practice, purpose and award according to the DMU. This paper aims to investigate this claim. Design/methodology/approach - The paper looks at De Montfort University where an innovative tripartite assessment process has been developed to support midwifery students in practice. This involves the student, his/her personal tutor and his/her clinical midwife mentor. All three are involved in the planning of appropriate learning experiences to facilitate the student in meeting the clinical learning outcomes, utilising a personal professional portfolio. Findings - The paper finds that the close working relationships between the placement providers and the university have improved the assessment of practice and enhanced the student experience. Clinical midwife mentors have commented on how well the tripartite approach works and they appreciate the clear lines of communication that this relationship provides. The personal tutor role is well established in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and the midwifery team have developed this role to include the assessment of students within the tripartite structure. This is beneficial from a quality perspective; while clinical midwife mentors will obviously change due to differing student placements, the personal tutor is the variable that is the constant through the student's progression on the programme. Originality/value - The tripartite approach to the practice assessment of pre-registration midwifery education investigated in this paper has proved to be a robust approach to ensuring students are fit for practice, purpose and award at the point of qualification and eligible to register as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]