NMC Midwifery OSCE flashcards
NMC Midwifery OSCE · Build recall with a focused review session.
31 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Partogram alert line
- A straight line drawn on the partogram from 4 cm dilatation representing 1 cm cervical dilatation per hour; crossing it prompts reassessment of labour progress.
- Partogram action line
- A line drawn 4 hours to the right of the alert line; reaching it indicates slow progress and requires obstetric review with consideration of transfer or intervention.
- Apgar score components
- Appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration, each scored 0 to 2; the total is recorded at 1 and 5 minutes after birth, with a maximum of 10.
- Antenatal appointment schedule
- NICE recommends 10 appointments for nulliparous and 7 for parous women with uncomplicated pregnancy, with the first booking appointment by 10 weeks.
- Dating ultrasound timing
- Offered between 11+2 and 14+1 weeks to confirm gestational age and, where crown–rump length is 45–84 mm, to perform combined screening for trisomy.
- Combined screening test
- First-trimester screening using nuchal translucency ultrasound plus maternal serum free β-hCG and PAPP-A to estimate the risk of trisomy 21, 18 and 13.
- Gestational diabetes screening timing
- A 75 g oral glucose tolerance test is offered at 24–28 weeks to women with risk factors such as BMI of 30 or above or previous gestational diabetes.
- MEOWS escalation rule
- A maternity early obstetric warning score chart triggers escalation when a single recorded parameter is red or two or more parameters are yellow, prompting urgent review.
- NMC Code themes
- The four themes of the NMC Code (2018) are prioritise people, practise effectively, preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust.
- Revalidation CPD requirement
- Over each three-year revalidation cycle, midwives must record 35 hours of continuing professional development, at least 20 of which must be participatory.
- Revalidation practice hours
- Midwives must record 450 practice hours over three years, along with five reflective accounts, five pieces of practice-related feedback and confirmation of declarations.
- Duty of candour
- A professional duty to be open and honest with people when something goes wrong in their care, apologising, explaining what happened and reporting the incident.
- Gillick competence
- A legal test allowing a person under 16 to consent to treatment if they have sufficient understanding and intelligence to comprehend fully what is proposed.
- Mental Capacity Act presumption
- The Mental Capacity Act 2005 presumes adults have capacity unless proven otherwise; capacity is decision-specific and must be assessed at the time of the decision.
- Freedom to Speak Up guardian
- An independent person in each NHS organisation to whom staff can raise concerns about unsafe care or bullying in confidence and without detriment to their career.
- Professional indemnity requirement
- Midwives must hold professional indemnity cover as a condition of registration, obtained either through their employer or through a private professional scheme.
- Active management third stage
- Involves a prophylactic uterotonic of 10 IU oxytocin intramuscularly after birth of the baby, controlled cord traction and assessment for signs of placental separation.
- Syntometrine contraindication
- Syntometrine contains 5 IU oxytocin with 500 micrograms ergometrine and must be avoided in hypertension or pre-eclampsia because of the ergometrine component.
- Delayed cord clamping
- NICE recommends clamping the cord no sooner than 1 minute after birth, and between 1 and 5 minutes for babies who do not need immediate resuscitation.
- Vitamin K newborn dose
- A single intramuscular dose of vitamin K 1 mg is offered to term babies weighing 2.5 kg or more; 0.5 mg is used for babies below 2.5 kg.
- Postpartum haemorrhage definition
- Primary postpartum haemorrhage is blood loss of 500 ml or more within 24 hours of birth, or 1000 ml or more after caesarean section, with or without shock.
- Intermittent auscultation rule
- The fetal heart is listened to for at least one minute after a contraction and the baseline recorded every 15 minutes in the first stage of labour.
- Neonatal resuscitation ratio
- Newborn life support gives five inflation breaths of 2–3 seconds, then compressions at a 3:1 ratio of compressions to ventilations, about 90 compressions per minute.
- Perineal tear classification
- First-degree tears involve vaginal epithelium only, second-degree involve perineal muscle, third-degree involve the anal sphincter and fourth-degree involve the anal epithelium.
- PICO framework
- A structured question format covering Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome, used to search the literature for evidence relevant to a clinical decision.
- Hierarchy of evidence
- Systematic reviews of randomised trials rank highest, followed by individual randomised trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, case series and expert opinion.
- SBAR handover
- A structured communication tool covering Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation, used to escalate concerns clearly and concisely to colleagues.
- Montgomery consent ruling
- The 2015 UK Supreme Court ruling requires clinicians to disclose material risks that a reasonable person in the patient's position would want to know.
- Teach-back method
- A technique where the person explains information back in their own words, allowing the midwife to check understanding and correct any misunderstandings.
- Professional interpreter use
- A trained interpreter, rather than a family member, should be used where language is a barrier, with the language need and interpreter use documented in the records.
- Contemporaneous record keeping
- Notes are made at the time of the event or as soon as possible after, and must be accurate, signed, dated, timed and clearly attributable to the writer.