Midwifery Core Competency Assessment Tool: A Systematic Review Protocol

摘要

Background: in recent years, the capacity building of midwives has attracted the attention of all countries in the world, especially in countries with a lack of midwifery human resources. Improving the capacity of midwives is an important strategy to ensure the health of mothers and infants. Professional associations in many countries have issued standards for midwife competency, which are basically similar to the core competency module proposed by ICM, but some countries have made localization adjustments according to their own characteristics. In August 2019 a further update was made to correct an error in competency of the English version, the French and Spanish versions by ICM. In order to further standardize the evaluation tools of midwives' core competence, it is urgent to evaluate them. Methods/Design: We will conduct a systematic review and utility critique of instruments used to measure effectiveness of core competence assessment tools for midwives at different levels. The databases Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to midwife competency and Web of Knowledge will be searched from inception until end November 2020. Search strategies will include the key words; midwife, core competency, questionnaires, instruments, delphi technique, index system, reliability, validity. We will contact experts in the field of measuring core competency and scrutinise all secondary references. A reviewer will apply an inclusion criteria scale to all titles and abstracts. A second reviewer will apply the inclusion criteria scale to a random 10% selection. Two reviewers will independently evaluate the methodological rigour of the testing of the instruments using the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of core competency checklist. We will present a narrative synthesis on the utility of all instruments and make recommendations for instrument selection in practice. Discussion: This systematic review of the utility of instruments to measure the core competence assessment tools for midwives at different levels. It will aid managers, educator and policy makers to select an instrument fit for purpose. Importantly, appropriate instrument selection will provide a mechanism for effective training of midwives' core competency ability in different levels.