OK, I can't say I am doing this but I am seriously considering it being the path I would ideally like to go. For me, I like the idea of having a small rural practice where I can attend births and care for women and children's health both. I love the idea of caring for the entire family and really helping them through this transition, rather than having the ped take over and the parents be given different advice, et cet. I feel that not just post partum, but having young children in general can be exhausting as well as confusing, and to have one care provider to care for your young family and understand your family as an whole entity, not seperate peices---would be lovely! now, the logistics of that I haven't figured out. Licensing, certification, liability, et cet.
Education wise, it appeals also because I would move though and do the FNP first, practice for a while as an FNP while my own children are young. Gain experiance while holding a job with relatively regular hours. Then, when they have all reached a reasonable age, I would add on the CNM portion and begin integrating that into the practice. Ideally, I would have a partner to share on call with. Maybe I could partner with a CNM early on while doing FNP work.
Just dreaming out loud!
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ECU has both the FNP and CNM, and you get both ONLINE (excluding clinicals of course). It looks like the FNP track starts annually in the fall of every year whereas the CNM can start Fall, Spring, Summer 1, or Summer 2. If you get the CNM first and then take the post-masters FNP certification, then you can save yourself from having to take some courses over too I believe. I dont know how expensive Frontier is, but you may want to check their price versus East Carolina. Plus ECU is the only North Carolina college/univerisity where CNM is available.
