[lmRNstudent08]

Hello,
I am a nursing student about to start my clinicals in the summer. I know that I may be asking this question a little soon, but I know where I want to work when I graduate. I either want to do L and D or CNM, but I don't exactly know what the difference is. Can anyone help me? I have asked a couple of people from around here, and they do not really know because they don't work in either branch. Also, What is the pay for each, and is further schooling required besides a regular bachelor degree? I live in Louisiana, so I know the pay listed will be slightly less. I have heard that L and D is a lot of shift work at first (crazy hours is how they referred to it), and that it has a high drop out rate because of the hours. HELP!

[HeartsOpenWide]

An L&D nurse is a nurse that either has an ASN or a BSN and working in labor and delivery. A CNM is a certified nurse midwife. She has go through a masters program (after getting her BSN) and has a masters degree and has taken an additional exam though the American College of Nurse Midwives. You will not beable to work as a CNM after you graduate nursing school, you have to have a BSN and then apply to a masters degree program and go to school for an additional 18 months or so. CNMs are consitered mid-levels and do make more than a regualr L&D nurse, they work in hospitals as well as clinics doing prenatals, and postpartum exam. Most also do womens health work such as annual exams and pap smears. Hope this helps.

[lmRNstudent08]

You can apply to any masters program or does it have to be specific? Are you required to have experience in the hospital before going for your masters in this area? By the way thank you HeartsOpenWide!

[elkpark]

Welcome to allnurses!

You would have to attend an MSN program that offers a concentration (major) in midwifery. There are plenty of them out there! Different schools have different requirements about how much, if any, clinical experience they require of applicants, so that would depend on the specific school.

I encourage you to review some of the older threads on this forum -- there is a lot of good info, and answers to questions you may have are probably posted here already.

[mommy2boysaz]

Also, midwives (CNMs) can have their own practices and/or open their own birthcenters. They practice by a different model of care than the medical model, also.
Check out the Frontier School of Midwifery website!

[elkpark]

Originally Posted by mommy2boysaz

Also, midwives (CNMs) can have their own practices and/or open their own birthcenters.

Note this varies widely from state to state ... Different states have different regulations and scopes of practice.

[lh856]

You should go to the website for the American College of Nurse-Midwives, acnm.org, for a complete listing of ACNM accredited master's programs in Midwifery. The main difference between an L&D nurse and a midwife is that a midwife has gotten a master's degree to be qualified to take care of women during labor and catch babies his/herself, as well as do prenatal and postpartum care, and well-woman gynecology. A CNM is on the level of a nurse practitioner.

[mom2michael]

http://www.midwife.org/

This site has a ton of info that can help answer all kinds of questions including practice regulations that vary greatly state to state.

And....for clarification, you are not required to have a BSN to become a CNM. Bridge programs exist that allow you to go from ASN to MSN in a wide variety of areas, including CNM.

[lmRNstudent08]

Thanks to everyone. It's greatly appriciated. I wish I would have known about the ASN to CNM, but I am already in my second year and probably could have gotten into ASN almost a year ago.

[lmRNstudent08]

I visited this website and nothing comes up for all of the questions that you can click on. Also, there is a section in the carreer area where you can click on a state to see if a masters in midwifery is offered. I live in Louisiana, and there are none in the state of Louisiana so that is a bummer. It also said underneath the map of USA that starting in 2010 a graduate degree will be required for certification to be awarded. I graduate from Nursing in May of 2010. I clicked on it, but not much information was provided about that. How long does it take to aquire a graduate degree?