Advice for a potential CNM

[Ashtae220]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum, so excuse me if I am posting this in the wrong place. I am currently applying for my Community college's ADN program but I ultimately want to be a CNM. Is it totally crazy for me starting out as an RN with an associates degree first? The reason I'm doing this is because I am going to be supporting myself through school and I figured it would be better for me to work in the field to help me get through it then to be making nothing working in retail. Am I crazy for thinking that I can work part time as a nurse while in working towards my CNM? I figured that after I became an RN I can do an RN to Masters program at my state college.

Any advice to an ultimate beginner would be greatly appreciated

[Winnie04]

Hi,

I don't think that sounds crazy, as long as your state college has a nurse midwifery program that allows you to go from ADN to MSN, and that allows you to do it part-time (or maybe you intend to do school full-time while working part-time?)

If I were in your shoes I would also look into how much L&D experience the program wants RN's to have before applying to the CNM program. Also keep in mind that new grad positions in some areas of the country are few and far between, and depending on your location, it might be hard to land a job in L&D right away after obtaining your ADN. Also, it seems to me that most new grad positions are full-time initially, so you probably won't be able to cut back to part-time until you are at least done with orientation, then length of which varies from one hospital to the next (at least 3 months is pretty standard for new grads, I think).

Good luck!

[AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP]

I'm going to an ADN program in the Spring and will do a bridge MSN to CNM program with Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, so I don't think you're off track :)

[CEG]

I am just about to graduate with my MSN in midwifery. I did a direct entry program for non-nurses with a bachelor's degree in another field. I was considering the ADN route as well but this really simplified it as I didn't have to worry about getting admitted to the MS, doing the bridge program, etc. It was also faster than the ADN program to get my RN and cheaper in the long run. I was required to get at a minimum 1 yr experience as an L D RN before I could graduate ith my MS. If you have a prior degree it might be worth looking into a program like this.