What is MidPLUS?

MidPLUS is the Australian College of Midwives' continuing professional development (CPD) program for Australian midwives and was developed with the support of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

MidPLUS has been designed by midwives, for midwives to assist you to get the most out of your ongoing professional learning and development.  It represents a move towards a broader, contemporary perspective of continuing professional education and practice, and incorporates best practice prinicples in the design and delivery of CPD programs from around the world.  The contemporary view of CPD values the individual as an adult learner and acknowledges the variety of ways in which effective learning can occur.  The benefits of learning that occurs during practice, as well as the more formal learning experiences, are all recognised as appropriate and valuable modes of CPD activity in MidPLUS program.

MidPLUS is designed to guide and support you as a professional midwife in achieving your personal and professional career goals, and to sustain ongoing enhancement of your midwifery practice.

Who should particpate in MidPLUS?

MidPLUS is relevant to all midwives.  As it can be used to tailor a professional development plan based on individual learning needs, it can be used by midwives working in all areas of clinical midwifery practice, including antenatal, labour and birth, and postnatal care in all settings.  MidPLUS is also relevant to midwives working in education, management, regulatory, research or governmental roles that draw upon their expertise as a midwife.

MidPLUS Aims and Objectives

The MidPLUS program aims to support you in identifying and participating in CPD activities that are relevant to your individual professional reposnsibilities and that suit your learning style.

The objectives of MidPLUS are to help you:

• plan and prioritise your professional learning needs
• identify and participate in high quality CPD activities that will meet your learning needs
• develop and maintain a professional portfolio
• reflect on your midwifery practice

How does MidPLUS work?

To complete MidPLUS requirements, you are required to accrue a minimum of 30 MidPLUS points of CPD activities each year.  For ease of use, each hour of CPD activity accrues one MidPLUS point (1 hour = 1 point).

You may choose to participate in greater amounts of CPD each year than the required 30 hours, particularly if your job role has recently changed, you have several different roles and responsbilities within your job, or there are many different practice areas that you are interested in.  Newly graduated midwives will generally undertake greater hours of CPD in the ifrst year/s following graduation.

What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?

CPD describes the ongoing process that all health professionals undertake to review their practice, maintain competence and enhance their professional and personal skills and knowledge, in order to ensure their ability to provide high quality care.

CPD should consist of learning experiences which add to your skills, knowledge and attitudes as a midwife, with the aim of enhancing your practice, education, management, and/or research.  Ultimately it is about ensuring the midwifery profession as a whole provides the best possible care to women and their families.

MidPLUS helps you make your CPD effective by providing you with the tools to identify, plan, document and meet your individual learning needs.

Why is CPD necessary?

CPD is important because childbearing women, employers, regulatory bodies, and the community need to be assured that midwives remain up to date and competent to practice.  In today's rapidly changing maternity care environment, it is no longer possible to reply solely on your initial midwifery studies and subsequent on-the-job experience to provide high quality midwifery care.  It is necessary for all midwives to regularly update their knowledge and skills.

As a health professional, you also have a responsibility to maintain your competence in accordnace with national professional standards, including:

• National Competency Standards for the Midwife
• Code of Ethics for Midwives
• Code of Professional Conduct for Midwives

MidPLUS will help you to become familiar with these standards and maintain a professional portfolio.

How will CPD benefit me as a Midwife?

Participation in the MidPLUS program will help you to:

• meet your legal and professional obligations in maintaining the currency of your practice skills and knowledge
• identify the skills and knowledge you need to develop personally and in your professional role as a midwife
• maintain your professional competence in your current role
• meet the current and future needs of childbearing women and their families
• be assured that your practice is best practice
• maintain confidence in your practice and feel more motivated
• take on wider responsibilities and achieve your career goals
• remain up to date with issues relevant to your practice
• meet national registration CPD requirements

What CPD activities attract MidPLUS points?

There are a variety of ways in which effective learning can occur.  These include the more formal learning experiences of attending workshops and seminars, but also the learning that occurs during practice, such as teaching women, reading a journal article, reviewing and/or presenting research evidence.

ACTIVE - these are activities that require your active learning and involvement, and are more likley to lead to a change in your practice

PASSIVE - these are activities that require less input from you as a learner.  While you may learn something of interest to you during these activities, they do not necessarily lead to a change in your midwifery practice or how you perform your current role.

To meet the annual requirements of MidPLUS, you will need to gain at least 20 of your 30 annual MidPLUS points in ACTIVE CPD activities.  You will note that this correlates with the current CPD policy of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

To apply for MidPLUS endorsement (CPD) points for a learning activity, please download an application form.