CNM vs. WHNP?

[twodollarbills]

I am not sure if I am posting this in the best possible spot, so I am sorry if I am upsetting anyone by posting in this location. I am an accelerated BSN student and I am trying to make a decision for grad school. I am stuck between midwifery or Women's Health. Unfortunately, no school in my state offers a Women's Health specialty. When I look at schools that offer both midwifery and WH I see that pretty much 98% of the classes are the same. My question to you is... if you are a CNM are you pretty much able to perform everything a WHNP can? If not, what can a WHNP do that a CNM is not qualified to perform? Thanks!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Since it's been, what? Almost three years since I wrote about Frontier doing away with their WHNP program, I just went to their website, and it appears that WHNP is still an option there (just not as an ADN bridge). Maybe they decided not to, maybe they are still planning to, who knows.

I can say as an OB/Gyn nurse who works in a primary care clinic with CNMs, midwifery programs focus heavily on well-woman care and GYN, in addition to pregnancy/prenatal care. Our CNMs work just as much on GYN as they do on OB in the clinic. They are EXCELLENT advance-practice nurses who have extensive knowledge of women's health. So I can say that doing a CNM program, you will still have tremendous experience and training in women's health.

[Ria28]

Hi there, just wanted to find out what you decided to do?