Work engagement among midwives working at advanced perinatal care facilities in Japan

This study seeks to clarify the current situation and associated factors regarding Work Engagement (WE) among midwives working in advanced care facilities, which bear the brunt of care for high-risk pregnancies, as well as the contribution of WE to quality of care. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in 2016 with the participation of 503 midwives working in 36 general perinatal maternal and child medical centers and with 125 nurses working at a university hospital selected for analysis as a comparison group. The survey used the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, subjecting all results to multiple regression analysis to adjust the sample size. Results revealed that WE among midwives was not found to be significantly different from that among nurses. WE among midwives was found to be positively associated with the “presence of a role model” and “doctor support”. In addition, WE as well as “career opportunities” and the “presence of a role model” were associated with quality of care (adjusted R2 =0.137, P u003c 0.05). From the study, WE among midwives working at advanced perinatal care facilities was not found to be different from that among nurses working at university hospitals. Among factors contributing to higher WE, the presence of a role model and relationships of trust with physicians were found to be those that represented the occupational characteristics of midwifery. Key words: Midwife, work engagement, job stress, role model, quality of care.