Possible to do both?

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Hi all,

I'm currently a pre-nursing college student and I eventually want to be a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse Midwife.

I know that both are intense practices and require lots of schooling but this is more of an ultimate goal. I don't expect to have it all done for another 30-40 years but I'm just wondering if it's even possible to do both at the same time (not the schooling. I'd do practitioner then midwife, ideally).

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Why would you do both? Technically, yes, it's possible. But what type of job would you imagine having? Part time, both positions?

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I haven't completely figured whether or not I'd do both part time. I want to do both because neonatology has always been my main interest. I've always wanted to do it and couldn't imagine not working in a NICU. L&D has always really interested me as well. I don't think I'd be completely satisfied if I just did a few years as a L&D nurse. I'm still figuring out if doing both is the route that I really want to take.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Honestly, I don't imagine it would be easy. If your first interest is in neonatology, that's what I would recommend pursuing.

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I am in the same position and can't decide which field id rather do... I'm waiting till after my BSN to see what pulls me more and then I'll make a final decision. Once you have a nurse midwife degree you can work with babies as well, just not nicu... I will need to see if that satisfies me...

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

If neonatology is your passion, go for that. You can also go back to school for another certification at a later date, but the jobs of a CNM and a NNP have very little overlap, so it would be very difficult to stay current in both fields.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

You may figure some of that out when you're in nursing school, learning about these roles more. What is it that you'd want to do as a neonatal NP? Can you do it? Yes. Would be be a big challenge? YES.

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Something to think about: Many NNP positions involve going to L&D a lot to care for the babies at high-risk deliveries. You wouldn't be managing moms in that case, but I think you would likely get lots of exposure to the L&D environment. It's good that you're keeping an open mind. I thought I wanted to be an NNP and I ended up in a NICU education position.

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Is it difficult to work in a nicu? The risk is high and so is the outcome... Can be really joyous when a baby leaves but really sad at other times... Isn't it very hard?

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You're a pre-nursing college student. Don't even worry about which direction at this point! Make school your priority for now. If you need to work, try to find a job in the area of interest. OB/GYN or birth center office, peds office, hospital, etc. Once you're an RN, you can look for NICU and L&D work and THEN decide which area to specialize in. I wouldn't worry about whether it's hard to do both at this point. Is it hard, yes. Could you do it, yes. Do you want to?! How would it work?! Who knows...IMHO, it's too soon to know and it is almost irrelevant. So much can happen between now and then

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