What do midwifery mentors need? Priorities and impact of experience and qualification

Mentoring is a feature of most professional education programmes, although its purpose may vary. In some cases, a mentor performs solely a supporting role, while in others it may include assessment of practice competence. The aim of this study was to explore and prioritize the needs of midwifery mentors and investigate any relationship between these and duration of experience and/or level of qualification. A two-stage cross-sectional correlational study of 82 mentors was carried out in a maternity unit in the southwest of England. Content, univariate and bivariate analysis of the data were performed. The focus group identified 15 needs which formed the basis of the subsequent questionnaire. Overall ranking showed that 'guidance' and 'frequent shifts' were important to all mentors. Of least importance were 'choice in allocation' and 'involvement in selection'. Statistically significant findings emerged relating to mentors' academic level of qualification, background of direct entry or Registered Nurse, length of experience and place of work. The programme followed by the students also had an impact. Some of the conclusions were that mentors need more overt recognition of their role, breaks between students and consideration of their area of work and the type of student allocated. Tutors need to offer increased availability, support, guidance and feedback. Students should have frequent shifts rostered with their mentor and be encouraged to provide feedback. A 'mentor pyramid of needs' was developed which could be used by educators and managers to audit and prioritize mentor support. The findings of the study are of particular relevance in the context of recent regulatory body standards.     

Surgical bacterial infections and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns at Lilongwe Central Hospital

A cross sectional study was done between October 1999 and February 2000 to determine antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of consecutive bacterial isolates of 102 clinical samples among surgical in-patients at Lilongwe Central Hospital (LCH), Malawi. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using comparative disc diffusion techniques. 83 (81.4%) samples were culture positive for bacterial growth while 19 (18.6%) grew nothing. Of the 93 culture positive specimens, Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant organism 43(51.8%) followed by Proteus species 8(9.6%) and E. coli 7(8.4%). Overall, 98.6% of all isolates tested against ciprofloxacin were susceptible, and against gentamicin and flucloxacin were 84.8% and 66.7% respectively. 59.3% of isolates tested against chloramphenicol were resistant. We recommend a review on the use of chloramphenicol as first-line antimicrobial therapy among surgical in-patients at Lilongwe Central Hospital. We also recommend restricted use of antimicrobials so as to minimise development of drug resistance. Periodic susceptibility studies are necessary to guide judicious use of antibiotics.