The route to take

[sophh]

Hi there, im looking to take an accelerated nursing program, and i have two questions:

1, Do i take the bsn or msn(CNL) route of the nursing program because my speciality is Midwifery?

2, Im confused on the bsn because i dont want to have to go back to school for another 2years to get a masters degree for my midwifery?

kindly assist if you have any info. and please be open minded.

thanks.

[hopefulwhoop]

What degree do you have now? If you already have a Bachelors degree in a different field, you can do an accelerated BSN program. If your ultimate goal is to be a Certified Nurse Midwife, you will more than likely have to go to grad. school, i.e. enroll in a MSN program. From my understanding, you can't practice as a CNM with just a BSN.

[sophh]

What degree do you have now? If you already have a Bachelors degree in a different field, you can do an accelerated BSN program. If your ultimate goal is to be a Certified Nurse Midwife, you will more than likely have to go to grad. school, i.e. enroll in a MSN program. From my understanding, you can't practice as a CNM with just a BSN.

hi,

i already have a bachelors degree, and yes my ultimate goal is CNM. My major concern is having to spend another 2years doing msn in nursing and do another year in midwifery program, as most cnm program prefer msc degree. So do i take EL-MSN with concentration in CNL as it applies to the school?

[trauerweidchen]

Most CNM programs are Master's programs; some are DNP (doctor of nursing practice) programs but it seems to me most schools are still offering the MSN in Midwifery (or equivalent). So yes, you do need to get a nursing degree and then midwifery is a Master's level degree at least. (if being a CNM is your goal).

I can tell you the two paths I am considering, as I, too, have a BA already (though not in nursing). One option: take an accelerated BSN program or traditional BSN program, then apply to graduate school for nurse-midwifery, or option two: apply to an accelerated BSN-to-MSN program for students with a non-nursing bachelor's degree. There are other options--if you are planning to live and work in New York or a tiny handful of other states you could apply to school to be a CM (certified midwife) instead of a CNM (certified nurse midwife), so essentially you get the midwifery part but not the nursing education, but CMs are only licensed in a few states, whereas CNMs can work legally in all states. There is also the CPM route (certified professional midwife), but laws for their practice varies state by state, and almost without exception they only can work out of hospital, usually in a solo or small home birth practice.

[trauerweidchen]

To further address your concern--I don't think you need a MSN to apply to most CNM programs, or at least not the ones I have considered; most seem to expect a BSN-RN to apply, though I realize this may not be true of the programs you are looking at. Hope that helps!