Aim. This paper aims to start a professional and academic dialogue on grading pre-registration midwifery practice.
Background. The introduction of grading pre-registration student midwives’ practice has been implemented within an all-graduate midwifery curricula in the UK (NMC, 2009a). The practice of grading does not have one commonly shared understanding within midwifery, so this analysis seeks to explore that concept. While many universities had utilised some form of grading for midwifery practice within their curricula prior to inclusion into the regulatory requirements for pre-registration midwifery education (NMC, 2009a), relatively little is written on the topic within the profession.
Method. The Walker and Avant (2011) framework for conceptual analysis was used to determine the attributes, antecedents, consequences and empirical referents associated with grading pre-registration midwifery practice.
Results. Assessment and grading of student clinical performance is complex. Multiple methods of assessment are often used to grade practice. Frequently used methods include grading tools with explicit descriptions of students’ performance with three or four grades for use by mentors in clinical practice, portfolios or objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) graded by faculty alone, or in collaboration with practice partners. Conceptually, only the clinical mentor’s assessment is appropriate, despite its limitations. The empirical referents for grading practice are ongoing high-quality education and support for mentors and evaluation of the grading processes used.