|
|
Frequently Asked Questions: A Career in MidwiferyTaken from "Frequently Asked Questions by Prospective Students" by the ACNM Division of Education Q.
What kind of salary does a CNM or CM make? Q. What kind of salary does a CNM or CM make? CNM salaries vary widely based on geographic region, responsibility and experience level. A number of variables can affect salaries for CNMs and CMs including: type of practice setting (private practice, hospital, birth center, home birth, health clinic), geographic part of the country, type of location (urban or rural), benefits packages offered with salary, hours worked per week, and type of care provided (full-scope of women's health services, pre-natal care, gynecologic care, etc.) Q. What are the job opportunities for CNMs and CMs? CNMs work in a variety of settings including private practices, hospitals, birth centers, health clinics, and home birth services. The numbers and types of opportunities available to new graduates often depends on the individual's work preference and varies across the country and in different locations (urban or rural). CMs are just entering the workforce, so information on the types of settings they practice in is not yet available. The outlook for professional opportunities, however, is positive. Q. What type of degree will I receive upon graduation? The type of academic credit and certificate or degree awarded may be different for each program. Thirty-six programs award a MS, MSN, or MPH degree; a number of graduate programs offer a master's completion option. Not all Master's nurse-midwifery education programs award a master's of science in nursing (MSN) degree. Q. What are the minimum requirements to get into a nurse-midwifery or midwifery education program? There are no national minimum requirements for acceptance into a nurse-midwifery or midwifery education program. Each program establishes its own prerequisites for admission within the ACNM DOA criteria. All nurse-midwifery and midwifery education programs view each candidate based on her/his entire application, and not necessarily on any one specific aspect or prerequisite. Most programs have a limited number of spaces to admit new students each year because of the intensive faculty to student ratio needed to graduate quality nurse-midwives and midwives. It is, therefore, not unheard of for a prospective student not to be accepted the first time she/he applies to a nurse-midwifery or midwifery education program. Consult this Web site or contact the program you are interested in directly about specific program prerequisites. Q. What are the differences between a certificate and master's degree when I try to find employment? As a clinical provider, there is no difference between a certificate or master's prepared nurse-midwife, or a graduate of a nurse-midwifery or midwifery education program. However, the number of states or employers who require nurse-midwives to be master's prepared in order to practice is increasing. Certified midwives (CMs) are new to the health care field and may not yet be recognized to practice in all states yet. In addition, some career opportunities and/or employers may have minimum degree requirements for nurse-midwives and midwives. Contact the state regulatory department(s) directly for more specific information about your career choice, or consult the ACNM Handbook on State Legislation and/or the Direct-Entry Midwifery: A Summary of State Laws and Regulations (both available from the ACNM Resource Catalog, available at www.midwife.org/prod) Q. Are the programs rated or ranked in any kind of order or preference? No. All nurse-midwifery and midwifery education programs must meet the DOA's criteria in order to receive preaccreditation or accreditation status. Unique features or aspects of the individual education programs may better suit individual learning styles, but do not mean that program graduates are "better" or "more competent" CNMs or CMs. Q. What if I'm not a registered nurse? Becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) is only a requirement to become a certified nurse-midwife (CNM), not a certified midwife (CM). If you are a high school student and have decided you want to become a CNM, we recommend you enroll in a 4-year university program that awards a bachelor's of science in nursing (BSN) degree, and then apply to a nurse-midwifery education program. If you are a high school graduate who does not have a baccalaureate degree in any field but wants to become a CNM, we recommend that you also enroll in a university program that awards a BSN degree and then apply to a nurse-midwifery education program. If you want to become a CNM and have a baccalaureate degree in a field other than nursing but are not an RN, we recommend that you contact the nurse-midwifery program(s) you are interested in attending and ask what their specific admissions requirements are for non-nurses. You will generally have one of three routes to follow:
Q. What if there isn't an education program near me? Nurse-midwifery and midwifery education programs have been in the forefront of expanding access to education. Many education programs offer "distance learning" options to students on a state, regional or national basis, for both academic course work and/or clinical experience. These programs meet the ACNM DOA criteria to receive preaccreditation or accreditation status. Consult the program you are interested in about distance learning opportunities available. Q. Why are some program's preaccredited while others are accredited? Preaccreditation and accreditation status do not denote which programs are better than others. Nurse-midwifery and midwifery education programs must receive preaccreditation status before they can admit students who will be eligible to take the ACC national certification exam upon graduation, and before the program can receive accreditation status. These programs have met the ACNM DOA's Criteria for Preaccreditation. After a preaccredited program has graduated its first class, the program is eligible to receive accreditation status from the ACNM DOA by meeting the Criteria for Accreditation. The Criteria for Preaccreditation and the Criteria for Accreditation are virtually the same requirements. There are slight differences in what is required for preaccreditation versus accreditation status. For example, to receive preaccreditation status, a program must provide the DOA with student and faculty evaluation forms; to receive accreditation status, a program must provide the DOA with samples of completed copies of student and faculty evaluation forms. Completed evaluation forms cannot be required for a program applying for preaccreditation status because it has not admitted and cannot admit students until it receives preaccreditation status. Both preaccredited and accredited education programs must demonstrate that their entire curriculum is in place and encompasses the Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice, that they have adequate class room, faculty, and resources to meet students needs, and that clinical sites are available to provide students with necessary clinical experience. Q. Do I have to have a bachelor's of science in nursing (BSN) to attend a nurse-midwifery education program? Not necessarily. Requiring a BSN in not part of the criteria for preaccreditation or accreditation of a nurse-midwifery education program, although requiring students to be registered nurses (RNs) is part of the criteria. Programs have the option, though, of requiring a BSN as a prerequisite for admission. Consult this Web site or contact the individual program(s) you are interested in directly to find out about this information. Q. Are there mandatory degree requirements for nurse-midwifery or midwifery education? Education programs accredited by the ACNM DOA must either require a baccalaureate degree upon admission or grant no less than a baccalaureate degree upon graduation. Q. What kind of labor and delivery experience is required and for how long before I can apply to a nurse-midwifery or midwifery education program? Nurse-midwifery and midwifery education programs differ on what type of labor and delivery (L&D) experience (hospital vs. birth center; full-time, part-time, or voluntary) of and for how long (if at all) is necessary before applying to the education program. Consult this Web site or contact the individual program(s) you are interested in directly to find out about this information. Q. Can I study midwifery in another country and come back to the U.S. to practice as a CNM or CM? If you study midwifery in another country and want to come back to the U.S. to practice as a CNM, you must first become a registered nurse (RN) in the U.S. and then graduate from an accredited nurse-midwifery pre-certification education program before you will be eligible to take the ACC national certification examination. If you study midwifery in another county and want to come back to the U.S. to practice as a CM, you must graduate from an accredited midwifery pre-certification education program in order to be eligible to take the ACC national certification examination. If you do not meet the prerequisites for either the nurse-midwifery or midwifery pre-certification education programs for admission, you will need to graduate from either a certificate or graduate education program in order to be eligible to take the ACC national certification exam. Q. Can a man be a certified nurse-midwife or certified midwife? Yes. Approximately 2% of CNMs are men who find this as highly rewarding a career choice as their female colleagues.
For more information, visit the ACNM web site at www.midwife.org.
|
| MidwifeJobs.com
is a member of the © 1999-2003 American College of Nurse-Midwives |
