"OB-nurse" vs. CNM....difference?

Ob nurses can be RN's or LPNs. RN training is at the associate or bachelor degree level. LPN's go to their own schooling which can be from one year fulltime to 2 years part time.

CNMs are nurses who have achieved education BEYOND THE BACHELOR DEGREE level by 2-3 years (or more). They have, in addition to having a bachelor's degree, gone to a school of midwifery (master's degree) for their training. Often, they have prior experience prior to attending school for midwifery as labor/delivery nurses, but not always.

A CNM is an independent provider of well-woman care to include pap smears, checkups, prenatal care, labor/delivery care, and menopause management. He/she often will have local hospital priveleges with physician backup or operate a freestanding birth center, near a hospital with csection priveleges. This person also holds medication prescriptive authority in the majority of US States.

The RN works with labor/delivery and mother-baby care in the hospital setting. He/she is not an independent care provider on the level of the CNM, rather he/she delivers care under the guidance/direction/orders from doctors and midwives. He or she is the "eyes and ears" of the care provider at the hospital, providing direct care for the birthing family's needs and keeping the midwife/physician informed of progress and patient conditions.

I can provide an extensive list of our day to day duties, (as RN's) after I find it ---if you would like.

I hope this helps you understand a little better, our roles as CNMs and nurses. They are separate and distinct.

Hi, I'm a CNM hopeful and just wanted to jump in and say that Philly University and University of Cincinatti both have distance education programs as well. For those of you in (or have been in) distance ed, I have a question. How did you find a CNM to do clinical training with? Does the school keep a list of CNM's willing to work with them?

As more schools become online based, the list of CNM's and clinical sites grows. Schools have established relationships with certain CNM's. Over time clinical sites are "shared" by schools because of the online learning experience.

I used a clinical site that had been used by Yale and Frontier; I was the first person from my school to go there.

My school (East Carolina) is always interested in new clinical sites and you can approach the faculty with a potential site and they will investigate it. It has to be appropriate for the course you are in (of course), and there are contracts and paperwork that needs to be completed which can take many months.

Is it safe to say that a big city like Pittsburgh would all ready have an "approved" clinical site?

I'd try googling "CNM in Pittsburgh" and see what you come up with...