This post is courtesy of new graduate Liz Stika-a few tips for students in the clinical program!
Paperwork
1. Make binders
About a year and half into
my preceptorship I saw another student’s paperwork that she was preparing for
NARM. It had all of her clinical
numbers, her NARM application, and clinical feedback paperwork neatly in
plastic sleeves. It was organized with
dividers and color coded, and a far cry from the water and coffee stained stack
of miscellaneous papers I had in a pile at home. That beautiful and durable binder was perfect
for carrying with me to births and was worth the extra effort to put together.
Along with the binder for
official paperwork, make a binder for your Practical Skills Guide. The spiral binding does not last, and the
pages start to get pretty stained if your guide comes along to births too. Luckily, I got the advice to pull out the
spiral binding and three-hole punch the pages for a binder. This way, my skills guide was ready for
signatures in the moment. I started
keeping the signature pages in plastic sleeves as well for organization and
protection.
2. Carry the binders with you
My pile of clinical
paperwork was not organized and it was a mess.
Finding the right papers took me a long time, and I was embarrassed at
my lack of organization. Not to mention
the risk to the paperwork of getting wet and messy. So I didn’t consistently bring them with me
to births or to clinical days and that just got me more behind. Once you have your binders set up, keep them
handy in a birth bag, or in their own file bag (Craft stores carry great bags
for organizing papers for reasonable prices.
They’re always on sale). That
way, you can grab them and always have them on hand when you have the
opportunity to get a signature.
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| Photo courtesy of Brian Smith on Flickr (CC) |
3. Get signatures in the moment.
Sometimes it seems like it
just breaks the beautiful midwife flow, or sometimes it’s 7 AM after 24 hours
at a birth and all you want is to go home.
But if you take 60 seconds to pull out your binder, fill in the
information and get your signatures you avoid many hours of headache trying to
repair the damage of charts that are incomplete or out of order.
4. Use pencil
I am embarrassed to admit
how many times had to rewrite my logs.
So, moral of the story- use
pencil, double check, go over with pen, then have
your preceptor sign- in the moment. It
will only take a minute a more.
5. Keep a master client list
One thing that saved my
paperwork was my master client list. I
worked with several midwives and I kept this list without fail for every
homebirth midwife client I spent time with.
I included the client’s name, my personal code, the midwife I worked
with. Somehow, I kept up with this list and it saved me when my official
paperwork was subpar and I needed to track down a particular client.
Plan Ahead
and Prepare
6. Communicate about skills
When you start your
preceptorship, be clear with your preceptor about expectations for skills. How will you practice? What do you know and what do you need to work
on? When will you sign them off? Will you have skill days, or discuss your
goals before a birth? The clearer you
are together from the beginning the easier it will be to establish good habits. My experience in several instances was the
longer I waited to establish expectations the more awkward it got to start. Even though this is easier emotionally in the
short run, it leads to assumptions and private contentions that can get in the
way of a healthy working preceptor relationship. By going over your skills requirements with
your preceptor from the beginning, you can map out a course for your
apprenticeship that will be satisfying and beneficial for you both.
7. Review
Make time to review
cases. Ask questions about what you
could have done differently. Research
complications and learn from every situation you can. Be honest about your choices and
mistakes. One mistake often leaves me
feeling like a failure, or that I am on the wrong path trying to become a midwife. But as an apprentice, and even as we join the
sisterhood of midwives it is important to remember we are learners and that
mistakes are steps to deeper understanding.
8. Start the NARM application…now
Read the NARM Candidate
Information Book (CIB) and print out the appropriate application pages now so
you know what you will need in the end.
This will give you a framework for your experience and help you avoid
unnecessary effort. I was so focused on
finishing clinical numbers, I didn’t even look at the NARM application until I
was ready to fill it out. I had to clean
up a few things, and get extra signatures from midwives I no longer worked with
in order to finish the application. It
was awkward, unprofessional and unnecessary.
(A note from the Clinical Dean: MCU students can find their forms at: http://narm.org/testing/graduate-of-a-meac-accredited-program/)
Midwives
are People too
9. Protect and Honor Vulnerability
Midwives take on students
for many reasons, and I can’t speak for them all, but it seems to me that bringing
on a student takes a lot of courage and humility. More than hiring an assistant the presence of
a student opens the midwife to constant scrutiny. I didn’t really think about this until I was
reaching the end of my clinical time and thinking about being a preceptor
myself. Students are in the process of
becoming midwives and so every decision the midwife makes is mentally weighed
against what the student has learned or how the student would have done
differently. It’s a very vulnerable
space for a midwife to be in and as students I think it’s our responsibility to
protect and honor that vulnerability by maintaining confidentiality, treating
our preceptors the way we would wish to be treated when we are in their shoes, and
by handling disagreements professionally
10. Practice Reciprocity
As an apprentice I often
felt I had little to offer. The burden
of responsibility for a client ultimately lies with the midwife, and it took a
while before I felt I could truly be helpful.
The principle of reciprocity implies mutual benefit; giving and
receiving. Just like I mentioned above,
it took me a while to really appreciate how hard my preceptors were working for
me. Even though I couldn’t always offer equal professional help, I tried to
show appreciation in other ways. Helping
with charts, organization, a gift or a heartfelt note can provide balance and that
element of mutual benefit.
Move Foreward
11. Have Faith
Everyone’s circumstances are different, but I have
found in my own experience that generally people want to help you succeed, and
when you are open, opportunities present themselves. Opportunities often come with sacrifice and a
whole lot of work, but they will come.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel and every experience provides
the backdrop for your future practice. I
asked around, sometimes several times, to work with several local midwives,
saved up to work at a local birth center and even found my own clients for the
last few primaries. It took about 3 years with a break for my own baby in the
middle. It took perseverance, faith, creativity
and a lot of support. Good luck! Your
talents are needed and the work will be worth it
Thanks for the tips, Liz, and best wishes as you graduate and start your own practice!
