Experiences of pregnant women, midwifery students, and their instructors from implementing a clinical leadership and mentorship program in labor and delivery wards.

Background: Clinical leadership and mentorship have been introduced as novel approaches to enhance clinical education and improve the quality of services provided by healthcare providers. This study aimed to explain the experiences of pregnant women, midwifery students, and their instructors from implementing a clinical leadership and mentorship program in labor and delivery wards.

Materials and methods: This study was conducted after implementing a clinical leadership and mentorship program from October 2023 to March 2024. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with midwifery students, midwifery instructors, and pregnant women receiving services in the labor and delivery wards of selected educational-therapeutic centers. Data were analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis, based on the criteria proposed by Graneheim and Lundman, and using MAXQDA 10 software (developed by VERBI Software Group, Berlin, Germany).

Results: Six main categories and 17 subcategories emerged in this study. The main categories included as follows: enhancing the quality of clinical education, promoting a teamwork approach, achieving professional competence, providing woman-centered care, barriers to program implementation, and facilitating factors and solutions for program implementation.

Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, implementing a clinical leadership and mentorship program could enhance the clinical skills of midwifery students and improve the quality of midwifery services provided to pregnant women during labor and delivery.