Is a CNM worth it?

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Hey all,

I'm currently a BSN nursing student, but I already know that I want to go further with my education and become a NP. Through lots of research and job shadowing, I've decided to explore the pediatric/neonatal nurse practitioner option that the University of Rochester offers. I also want to go ahead and get my DNP sometime later on in life, since by then it'll probably be required. (maybe.) I've also been looking into some post-degree certificates and I'm very interested in midwifery. I feel like as a PNP/NNP, being a midwife will also help, but then again I may be mistaken. What do you guys think? Is it worth getting that extra certification in midwifery or will it not benefit me at all?

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

No way would I take that on if I didn't want to practice midwifery. It is unlikely that a CNM cert will help you on your path to becoming a NNP, and it is a very challenging and time consuming degree to attain.

Working in L&D as an RN would give you skills/experience that will help you be a good NNP/PNP, however.

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No way would I take that on if I didn't want to practice midwifery. It is unlikely that a CNM cert will help you on your path to becoming a NNP, and it is a very challenging and time consuming degree to attain.

Working in L&D as an RN would give you skills/experience that will help you be a good NNP/PNP, however.

Well no, I am interested in midwifery. I was just wondering if having a CNM and a NNP/PNP certification would benefit me in any way, I understand that they're different scopes of practice but at the same they are similar in some ways. I've seen that some schools also offer PNP/CNM duel programs where in the end you're certified in both, so seeing those programs just made me wonder if I were to go for a CNM already being a PNP/NNP if it would help me in any way at all.

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Specializes in OB.

What do you actually want to do on a day-to-day basis after you get your degrees? Work in a clinic only? Attend births? I know that U of Michigan offers a duel CNM/PNP program, which in theory would be cool because you could see newborns of your patients whose births you'd attended, but I've never actually met a CNM/PNP in real life. People generally work as one, or the other. That's an enormous amount of time, money, and effort to go through, for what seems to me to be impractical goals.

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Specializes in NICU.

That is a lot of money to be triple certified. There is only so much time in the day. I know some folks who are dual certified and have part-time jobs in each specialty, but not for three. Unless you want to change careers halfway through, but then you run the risk of a huge paycut since you would be starting over as a new graduate. I think you need to think carefully on what you want to do on a day-to-day basis and make plans from there.

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