Neonatal Nursing and Midwifery Education and Training Framework

Neonatal nurses and midwives provide evidence-based, family integrated practice to assess, plan, provide and implement care to neonate’s and their families and/or carers within intensive care and high dependency environments such as Special Care Units.

Developed in partnership with the Agency for Clinical Innovation, NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Office and expert neonatal nurses and midwives, the Neonatal Nursing and Midwifery Education and Training Framework is intended to be used to identify the values, behaviours and skills required for the nursing and midwifery workforce to deliver safe neonatal care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special Care Units across NSW Health.

More about the Framework

The Neonatal Nursing and Midwifery Education and Training Framework has been developed through extensive consultation with Local Health District and Speciality Health Network neonatal nursing and midwifery representatives and promotes a consistent, state-wide, multidisciplinary approach to neonatal education and training for the NSW Health workforce.

The Framework is aligned to the Nursing & Midwifery Board Australia Practice Standards (NMBA) competencies and practice standards (NMBA, 2016) for all nursing and midwifery professionals providing care to patients and their carers/families. The skills and capabilities outlined in this Framework apply across the neonatal nursing and midwifery career continuum and encompass the care provided by neonatal nurses and midwives across all neonatal service levels.

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Six Capability Domains of the Framework

The capability domains and clinical competencies have been thematically identified from a rapid literature review resulting in the generation of six (6) theme domains containing 49 capabilities and clinical competencies.

  1. Neonatal domains infographicProfessional, Ethical & Legal Practice focuses on capabilities that support professional, ethical and legal healthcare delivery.
  2. Family Centred Care focuses on capabilities that support families and/or carers to take an active role in caring for their neonate.
  3. Communication & Documentation focuses on capabilities that relate to effective verbal and non-verbal communication, contemporaneous documentation of clinical practice and clinical handover processes.
  4. Evidence Based Clinical Practice & Decision Making focuses on capabilities and clinical skills development that support clinical nursing/midwifery practice and decision making in the neonatal care environment.
  5. Leadership & Management focuses on capabilities that support inter-professional teamwork, staff guidance, incorporating constructive feedback and the ability to manage the total resources of the neonatal service.
  6. Research & Quality Improvement focuses on capabilities that support advancement of neonatal care through contribution to the evolving speciality evidence-base and quality improvement activities that seek to embed the evidence-base in practice.