Maternal deterioration remains a significant contributor to preventable morbidity and mortality; early recognition and timely management are critical to improving outcomes for women and their babies. Despite this imperative, clinicians’ confidence, knowledge, and skills in responding to maternal deterioration can vary considerably. These challenges are amplified in rural and remote areas of Australia, where access to healthcare is limited, workforce is often transitory and maternity services are sparse, resulting in fewer opportunities for clinicians to maintain and develop essential skills.
The ‘READIMum’ project will help address this problem by increasing the knowledge, skills and confidence of those providing front-line services to recognise when a woman’s health is worsening and respond quickly and appropriately within the context of an interprofessional team. Drawing from the results of a national survey and stakeholder groups to explore current levels of confidence and challenges that nurses and midwives experience in this area, an interprofessional immersive virtual reality (iVR) education program will be developed. This unique program will be used to support nurses, midwives and members of the interprofessional team in acquiring the skills they need to enhance the safety and quality of care for pregnant and postpartum women with a particular focus in rural and remote areas of Australia.
Ethics Approval Number: 2024-05664-EWENS
Closing Date: 28 February 2027