Evaluation of Career and Educational Problems of Midwives Working in the Public and Private Sectors

Considering the importance of midwifery for the health of the community, this study was performed to identify some of the career problems of midwives in private and public institutions. In this descriptive analytical study which was conducted as a survey in 2014, a questionnaire containing demographic information of respondents and questions related to educational problems, lack of resources or personnel, cultural issues, problems with dealing with patients and problems related to management and policy of treatment centers, was given randomly to midwives working in private and public institutions in the city of Mashhad, Iran.From 90 questionnaires sent, 52 individuals responded (response rate: 57.7%) to the survey questions. The mean age of participants in the survey was 34.6 ± 5.4 years and their mean of work experience was 8.4 ± 4.4 years. The most emphasized educational problems were "lack of scientific workshops and CME courses" (44.2%) and "lack of practical skills training courses" (44.2%). Considering personnel number and facilities, "lack of adequate number of personnel in the center" (78.8%) was the most common problem posed by the respondents. About cultural issues and problems with dealing with patients, the majority of participants (55.8%) complained of "excessive and unreasonable expectations from the medical staff". The most common problems related to management and policy of treatment centers included "low income" (53.8%), followed by "high number of shifts and irrational working hours" (40.4%). Effective measures to resolve issues posed by the midwives in this study may improve the satisfaction of this class of the medical community and can consequently increase job efficiency and improve the public health.