Midwifery education in New Zealand: Education, practice and autonomy.

New Zealand's midwifery education model is intertwined with a practice model which is underpinned by autonomy and partnership. The curriculum prepares students for practice across the scope of midwifery on their own responsibility. While students have formal learning opportunities within educational institutions they spend at least half of their programme learning through authentic work experiences alongside midwives and women.

Supporting New Zealand graduate midwives to stay in the profession: An evaluation of the Midwifery First Year of Practice programme.

Background: the transition from undergraduate midwifery student to working as a confident midwife can be challenging for many newly qualified midwives. Supporting a smooth transition may have a positive impact on the confidence and retention of the new graduates within the workforce. In New Zealand the Midwifery First Year of Practice programme (MFYP) was introduced in 2007 as a structured programme of support for new graduate midwives for the whole of their first year of practice.

Quality of life: information and learning resources in supporting people with severe life-changing injuries to return to independence.

This paper reports the first stages of the development of an integrated care model for people with massive sudden change in their lives with special reference to spinal cord injuries. The model aims to be holistic by placing the patient at the centre of the service. In addition to providing medical care for physical injuries, the model emphasises at the outset that regaining a good quality of life postinjury is expected.