PROFESYONEL BİR MESLEK OLARAK EBELİK: LİSANSÜSTÜ PROGRAM ÖĞRENCİLERİ NE DÜŞÜNÜYOR? TEK DURUMLU BİR ÖRNEK OLAY ÇALIŞMASI

Abstract

Midwifery as a Profession: What Do Postgraduate Students Think About? A One-State Case Study Aim: The main objective of this research is to determine what the postgradute education students think about midwifery as a profession. Methods: In this research figured by the qualitative research method, "one-state case study technique" has been used. The working group of this research consists of midwifes who are continuing their postgraduate education at Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Health Sciences."The criterion-based sampling" technique has been used when selecting the samples amongst the purposive sampling types. The samples of this research have been collected from 8 postgraduate students. The data have been collected by "semi-structured interview technique" applied via individual face-to-face meetings. The interviews have been recorded with the permission obtained from the participants, and the acquired data have been assessed by inductive content analysis technique. Results: The postgraduate midwifes consider the midwifery as being in a continuous education, being open for improvement, handling prove-based applications, being able to make independant decisions, sticking to ethical rules, emphatizing, having an integrated approach and loving your job. Futhermore, they emphasised that working in different departments/areas of specialization negatively affects the professionalization process and job satisfaction. All students stated that the midwifery was not in a well-deserved place as a profession in society, and this situation was caused due to the midwifes who have different educational backgrounds, and due to the lack of mission, policy and organization. Moreover, although they know the importance of organization for professional development, few students reported that they are members of the association. Conclusions: As a result of this study, it was determined that the students had enough information in terms of professionalization concept but they considered professionalization as an ongoing process due to the lack of physical and social conditions, and difficulties they faced. These results make us think about the necessity of making new regulations to improve the social status of midwifery as a profession and to decrease the level of difficulties in working conditions.