Abstract

Learning of management skills is necessary for the training of nursing middle managers in the next generation. However, in perinatal medical care, there have been few studies on management skills for midwives as middle managers. The aim of this study was to determine whether advanced midwives have an awareness of probable future changes in perinatal nursing and what management skills they consider will be required for nursing middle managers in the next generation. This study was a qualitative descriptive design conducted for 761 advanced midwives who work in hospitals having 300 beds or more and having an independent department of nursing during the period from November 2018 to May 2019 in Japan. Self-reported questionnaires were sent after receiving acceptance from directors of nursing and questionnaire forms from 501 midwives in 91 hospitals were analyzed. The proportion of midwives who responded that perinatal care and nursing will change in the next 10 to 20 years was 86.8%, and the items of the top three were increase in the number of pregnant women with a high risk, development of reproductive medicine and development of prenatal diagnosis. According to the responses to the questionnaires, management skills that are required for nursing middle managers in the next generation include the ability to deal with different values of midwives, the ability to train midwives with high ethical values and the ability to cooperate with the community. Midwives recognize the need for systematic training for nursing middle managers in the next generation having a high level of management skill.

Key words: Advanced midwives, nursing middle managers in the next generation, management skill, predicted change.