[janna05]

i am currently a nursing student and have a ultimate goal of working with pregnant women

maybe work in a small practice where I will help other with family planning and care for women who are pregnant and will examine women and provide care for the different stages of pregnancy such as prenatal, delivery of the baby, and postpartum care etc.

i am unsure if i a np or nurse midwife would be better - i know both work at the office that i go to for my care - any opinions?

i am also very seriously considering double majoring at my college in medical imaging... so that i may administer my own sonograms

i am told that many health professionals do this to widen their scope of practice and to be more valuable to their employers... what do you think??
thanks!!!!

[nicenurse911121]

In my opinion, NP would be the way to go due to the fact you can specialize in any area you desire, whereas with the midwifery, you are limited to pre, peri, and postpartum care.

[Selke]

Originally Posted by janna05

i am currently a nursing student and have a ultimate goal of working with pregnant women
... snipped ...
i am told that many health professionals do this to widen their scope of practice and to be more valuable to their employers... what do you think??
thanks!!!!

Try a google search of women's health nurse practitioners. They specialize in women's health care, including antepartum. (Sorry, don't know any resources off the top of my head!) Look up the website of your local graduate school of nursing or call them, make an appointment, and talk to a faculty member about what you want to do. CNMs, or nurse midwives, provide primary care for women throughout the lifespan, including intrapartum. WHNPs don't deliver babies, CNMs do, which is the main difference between them, and WHNP have a bit more of primary care including male patients. If you don't want to deliver babies, maybe WHNP is for you. Both generally require a MSN, although you can get creative and, for example, get your MSN in WHNP then do a certificate in midwifery, or do a combination program. You can learn how to do ultrasounds as an RN or advanced practice nurse. There are programs out there. If you want to learn to do, for example, diagnostic or level 2 US, you would need a more formal course of study, but for routine US (like done on L&D floors, and in PP offices) you don't need this level of skill. You can also learn to do colposcopies, and if a CNM, first assist at C/Sections.

Good luck!

[beckinben]

Originally Posted by nicenurse911121

In my opinion, NP would be the way to go due to the fact you can specialize in any area you desire, whereas with the midwifery, you are limited to pre, peri, and postpartum care.

Sorry, but this is not true. In the practice I am in, we see 60% GYN and 40% OB. I know a midwife whose sole practice is care of women in the menopause years. I know several midwives who are in 100% GYN practices. If anything, the WHCNP is the more limited area of practice, as they cannot do intrapartum care, whereas we can. In my class, we have two post-master's students (one FNP, one WHCNP) who are getting their post-master certificate in the CNM program so that they can provide that piece of care to their patients.

Oh, and we also provide care for newborns up to six weeks of age, as well.

Becki, SNM

[beckinben]

Originally Posted by janna05

i am also very seriously considering double majoring at my college in medical imaging... so that i may administer my own sonograms

i am told that many health professionals do this to widen their scope of practice and to be more valuable to their employers... what do you think??
thanks!!!!

A full degree in diagnostic sonography might be overkill, IMHO. I wouldn't want to spend a year or more just to learn ultrasounds, if what I really wanted to do was primary patient care. However, I just today got a brochure for a 4.5 day course on ultrasound in OB/GYN, which is similar to what most of the providers I know who do limited in-office or IP ultrasound have taken. It's only $300 for students. But I would suggest, IMHO, maybe waiting until you have a job before doing this or are at least close to graduation. If you take the course, but then never have a chance to use the skills, it might not really be worth it.

Becki, SNM

[midwife2b]

Having been through both a WHNP and CNM program, I can tell you the main differences lie in the labor and birth and followup care of the infant. I got similar GYN and office OB experiences in both courses. I also got good primary care experience in both programs.
I am planning to learn limited OB ultrasounds so I am not beholden to my backup doc if I need an AFI or confirm a breech presentation at 3 am.

[opalmRN]

Having complete ultrasound education in my background will aid me in my pursuit of my NP however in the offices I have worked in the past, we had a registered sonographer on the staff. I don't believe having full U/S education is as critical as it is to be able to read and interpret the scans. JMHO

Opal

[naggytabby]

in some schools, you are trained to do level 1 ultrasounds- as at upenn while you are in the program- this happens over the duration of a semester long course focusing on fetal evaluation