‘Competent, but not allowed to blossom’: Midwifery-trained registered nurses’ perceptions o f their service: A qualitative study in Sri Lanka.

Abstract

AttachedO bjective: To explore midwifery-trained registered nurses’ perceptions of their own profession as maternity care providers and how they identify their role, tasks, and responsibilities within a multi-professional team. D esign: An exploratory qualitative study using focus group discussions and qualitative content analysis. Setting: Three selected tertiary care hospitals in the Capital Province in Sri Lanka. P articipants: Twenty-two midwifery-trained RNs working in intra-partum and postpartum units. Findings: The overriding theme o f the analysis was identified as ‘competent but not allowed to blossom fully in their practice’, based on two main categories: ‘provision o f competent care’ and ‘working with disappointments’. Each main category had four subcategories: ‘acting with compassion’, ‘cooperation in emergencies’, ‘exceeding one’s boundaries’, ‘taking full responsibility’ and ‘deprived o f utilizing special knowledge and skills’, ‘role confusion with other professional groups’, ‘lack o f professional identity’, and ‘not being appreciated by others’, respectively. Conclusion: Midwifery-trained RNs conveyed a deep sense o f disappointment regarding their profession as maternity care providers in Sri Lanka. Midwifery-trained RNs’ perceptions of their high proficiency are incongruent with their low sense of identity and belongingness within the multi-professional hospital-based maternity care team. This phenomenon warrants further study, considering its implications for team work and patient safety.