Midwives training on violence against women: Review and analysis of a midwives teaching unit

Abstract

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to conduct a review of the theoretical and practical training on violence against women for students of midwifery in our teaching unit.

Material and methods

A review of the contents related to the topic in the current regulations and a bibliographic review concerning the training of professionals was carried out. Furthermore, a comparison was made between review results and material and methodologies available in our teaching unit.

Results

Knowledge and competences acquisition on violence against women are reflected in regulations and the ethical codes of midwives. It is necessary work on the «hidden curriculum». Self-reflective activities for improving the hidden curriculum are defined as effective methodologies.

Discussion

The training on violence against women in our teaching unit fulfills the criteria established by the current regulation of midwives training. However, students of midwifery continue to express anxiety and lack of dexterity to address these situations. We have proposed two improvement areas in this respect.

Conclusions

The violence against women is a public health issue with which professionals show insecurity. There are methodologies for theoretical training that can be implemented easily. Nevertheless, the hidden curriculum needs to be developed for successful skill acquisition. The training related to violence against women is widely covered in our Teaching Unit although the inclusion of reports related to critical incidents concerning the violence against women appears as an adequate improvement.