Relationship of Characteristics with the Suitability of the Field of Work DIII Midwifery Graduates in West Java']Java

Midwifery education graduates ideally work as midwives. This study explored the relationship between characteristics and suitability the field of work graduates of DIII midwifery study program in 2019. This study applied a cross-sectional design with a quantitative approach. The population was graduates in 4 DIII midwifery study programs in West Java and the sample whose access the google form as many as 442 respondents. Google forms distributed by email, Facebook, and WhatsApp group graduates within one month. The dependent variable was the suitability the field of work graduate. In contrast, the independent variables were characteristics of graduate (the status of the study program, age, marital status, year of graduation, the value of IPK, and additional education after graduation). Analysis of data used chi-square. The results showed 10.2% of midwifery study program graduates worked not as midwives, 37.8% of them said that salary was the reason they did outside the midwife profession and another 15.6% expressed no interest as midwives. The results of the bivariate analysis showed that marital status and IPK at graduation had a significant relationship with the suitability of the graduate work field (p <0.005). The commitment of graduates as midwives is the main focus to enhance midwifery professionalism. The existence of graduates whose work outside the midwife profession along with their reasons provided information on the need for strengthening midwife salary standards based on labour regulations.