Developing an educational program for the primary healthcare practice skills of fourth-year students at Balikesir University?s School of Health, Department of Midwifery

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop an educational program to improve the primary healthcare practice skills of fourth-year students in the midwifery department at Balikesir University?s School of Health.Method: Midwives (n=10) who graduated from the midwifery department of the Balikesir Higher School of Health in the academic years 2007 and 2008, and who had been working in primary health care institutions, were asked for their feedback, in order to establish the need for this study. After the need had been recognized, an educational program was developed for prenatal care and baby-child follow-up in midwifery education. The control group included 39 students who had taken public healthcare courses in the 2009-2010 academic year. The intervention group consisted of 40 students who had taken the same courses in the 2010-2011 academic year. The study?s dependent variable was the skill level; its independent variable was the educational program. The data evaluation guide feedback form was collected through a needs assessment questionnaire form. The students? scores for prenatal care and baby-child follow-up were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test.Findings: In the needs analysis, the skills of midwives who had graduated from the Balikesir Higher School of Health had been found to be insufficient in subjects such as pregnancy and baby-child follow-ups, family planning and registers. The study found that midwives in the control group, which did not receive the educational program, did not apply some of the steps in prenatal health care, such as examining the bellies of pregnant women, measuring their folic acid, assessing laboratory tests and providing them with information about their examinations. During baby-child follow-up, this group had omitted certain key steps, such as inquiring about any ailments, testing reflexes, asking whether the babies had had vaccinations and were taking vitamin D and recommending hearing screening. In addition, there were other skills in prenatal health care, baby-child follow-up and communication that this group either never applied or applied only after being reminded. However, almost all of the midwives in the intervention group were found to have used communication skills effectively and to have completed prenatal healthcare and baby-child follow-up in the proper order and in a highly qualified manner.Conclusion: The educational program developed for midwife education and practice has been successful and effective. Almost all of the people in the control group have fully applied their healthcare follow-up skills.Key Words: midwifery education, public health, educational program, curriculum development