Active blended learning for clinical skills acquisition: innovation to meet professional expectations

The role of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) ‘is to make sure mothers, babies and family members receive the safe, effective care and support they deserve’ (NMC, 2017). This is achieved through regulation and the setting of standards of education training, conduct and performance (NMC, 2015; NMC, 2017a; NMC, 2009). In relation to educational standards and regulation, the NMC are currently consulting on the education framework which all approved education institutions (AEIs) and practice placement providers must meet in order to deliver NMC approved programmes. To ensure the delivery of person-centred care the standards will align with the Code (NMC, 2015) and are set out in five pillars defining good education delivery and management: learning culture; educational governance and quality; student learning and empowerment; educators and assessors; curricula and assessment (NMC, 2017b). The current Standards for Pre-registration Midwifery Education state the practice-theory ratio of the programme should be no less than 50% practice and no less than 40% theory, adopting a variety of learning and teaching strategies, including simulation (NMC, 2009). Simulation for skills teaching has been found to bridge gaps between theory and practice and positively impact on how prepared and confident the student midwife feels to apply knowledge and skills in the practice setting (Lendahls and Oscarsson, 2017, p.16). With changes in regulation under consultation and an ever more complex clinical environment, it is timely to revisit learning, teaching and assessment strategies in pre-registration education to ensure they are fit for purpose. This article will consider an innovative approach to learning and teaching by detailing the modification of an accepted and traditional stepwise approach to the delivery of skills teaching using the example of the skill of airway management for the newborn infant that does not breathe at birth. It is anticipated that the adoption of an active blended learning approach will enhance the ‘toolkit’ of learning teaching and assessment strategies appropriate to contemporary midwifery pre-registration education.