lovingpecola

I would become an RN through an accelerated BSN program. Since You already have a BA in biology, your first two years (or more!) of a BSN should already be covered. Here's an example of a program... note that it's full time, but I bet you could find a similar program that is part time or even partly online: http://www.creighton.edu/nursing/programs/acceleratedprogram/ I would search for these kinds of programs, and then ask them if they allow part-time study which should still only take you two years. Good Luck! LP

It's much higher where I am, but I'm in the private sector. If you go to this website, and put in your city and state you can get an estimate for your area. For my city and state, it was dead on. http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=Research+Nurse+Coordinator&l1=

I definitely picked an integration site I wouldn't mind working at, hoping to be offered something. (And I think it's a good thing to keep in mind) But they had just hired someone when we arrived, so that was a bust. But I had also picked it for the opportunity to work with midwives of color- which I had never had, and that was GREAT. ) I'd say less than half of the people in my class got offers from their integration site... and a few of those didn't take them because they were moving back to their home states.

mommy2boysaz, I agree with what you're saying because I really do think the nursing manager can make all the difference between peace and, well, not-so-peaceful! (not that all the responsibility falls to the manager, but I surely appreciate a good one when I meet them! )

I know you weren't asking me, but being as though I have NO L&D experience (and neither did most of my classmates), I would say that if you can't find another L&D job, you will still be just fine.

I believe that they may be including "on call time," including the time when you are not actually *at* work in their totals. For example... if you work three 8 hr days in the office, plus two 24hr call shifts, you will have a total of 72 hours- even though you may not go in at all during that 48hrs of call. (how much you can expect to actually be called in will vary based on the birth volume of your practice) But yes, it is possible to be totally slammed and end up working the whole thing. Also, you can definitely find jobs that are not this time intensive. For example, job 1 is a set 40 hours. For more salary info, search for the ACNM membership surveys. They conduct them regularly, they include salary info, and they are broken down by region.

Hm. I been at a hospital where nurses and midwives clash a little bit. A few nurses have said things like "I don't *do* back rubs" or "I'm not going to stand here all day" or "she's going to have to lay still, the monitor keeps coming off" etc. and there have definitely been some issues surrounding that. I would say it was 50/50 as far as those who are supportive of the midwifery model and those who weren't. We had a hard time getting the nurses to come over to the "birth center" part of the hospital where we did water births- even if it wasn't going to be a water birth.... even though they were sure to get 1:1 with the patient... they didn't like the paper charting required in the birthing center, and I also think it was hard to know"what to do" since so much of what nurses do now involves monitors/machines/data entry/meds etc. This caused tension because in order for a woman to birth in the center, we had to have a nurse. Some nurses tended to want epidural + AROM + IUPC + FSE as a given... and I can't really blame them because honestly that's kind of how it happened with most of docs on the floor and so you get used to it.... and if you've never seen normal, uninterupted labor (besides when folks come in pushing ) you really have no idea what else it could be. So, yeah, we had a few issues, but there were enough nurses there that appreciated the midwifery model that it didn't seem so bad. And basically with that many nurses and that many patients (high volume hospital) managers usually just assigned patients in a way that made most folks happy most of the time. (RNs who were also CNM students or RNs who loved the midwifery model got the "I have a birth plan, no meds please, natural labor mamas, and the "I don't do back rubs" folks got the rest, and everyone took turns for the stuff no one wanted, like triage) And really there weren't many women who knew what they wanted and why and arrived early enough to need much... those mamas usually came in at about transition or later simply because they know better. But thank god for good nursing managers.

I didn't have any, nor did most of the people in my class. We graduated in May. Everyone's passing the boards, and about 1/2 have already found CNM jobs. Good luck!

I agree that this information is hard to find. I am a new grad, currently looking for a job and have been talking to various employers. I can contribute the following to the discussion: Job 1: large midwestern city, large community health practice but not eligible for loan repayment Schedule: 2 days a week in clinic doing AP/GYN, another 24hrs week in hospital on L&D (scheduling is fluid- sometimes more in office, less on L&D, etc. but every week totals 40hrs) Salary: about $75,000 + about $10,000 per year in bonuses Benefits: 4 weeks vacation, 12 days sick leave $1500 CME conference reimbursement ACNM dues, RN license, CNM license, and DEA&State med licenses paid for by employer 80% health insurance Job 2: very large private practice in the northeast, not eligible for loan repayment Schedule: 3-4 days in the office, plus call "1 in 3" (meaning, three midwives cover the patients 24/7 and you are responsible for 1/3 of the call time... this equals 24hrs of call every 3 days, depending on how the midwives organize themselves) Salary: about $70,000 Benefits: 3 weeks vacation $1000 CME conference reimbursement 100% health insurance Other differences between jobs: -Job 1 has a much higher birth volume than Job 2... so in Job 1 there is no real "call" you staff L&D for your "call" shifts. Because job 2 has less than 20 births in a month, you do not spend your whole "call" time in the hospital, and may not be called in at all. -Job 2 will eventually pay more than job 1, because the bonuses available after the first year will be almost double what those in job 1 are. -Job 1 has 3 times as many midwives on staff. -The midwives of job 2 perform significantly more expanded skills: first assist, colposcopies, ultrasounds, biopsies, etc. The midwives in job 1 give more primary care services: ear infections, URIs, asthma, etc. I haven't been interviewed for or offered either job, this information came from preliminary, pre-interview talks with the practices. If you're lucky enough to live in CT (or be looking for a job there), you can use this article for reference: Survey of Connecticut Nurse-Midwives by Holland and Holland An excerpt from the abstract: "Full-time midwives in Connecticut worked an average of 77 hours per week, had a mean salary of $79,554, and 87% had on-call responsibilities. A "typical" Connecticut midwife had an "average" full-time work week consisting of two 24-hour call days and three 7-hour office days, seeing 19 to 24 patients per office day." I found the article helpful even though I'm not in CT. Hope this helps! Thanks epiphany for starting the thread. LP

There are also schools where the entire thing is funded at no cost to the student. Yale is among them.

Is anybody who got this working as an ANP? (FNP, WHNP, PNP or CNM etc) or is everyone working as RNs?

Lyndsey, how long did it take for them to mail you the application? (I weighing my options between waiting for it in the mail or driving all the way to Maryland to pick it up and hand it back in, in person) Also, can you tell me what kinds of forms you needed (like from your school, etc) so that I can be prepared. (If I have what I need i may be able to fill it out and hand it back in the same day) Thanks in advance, LP

Did you ever go in person to the office in Baltimore? I am about to begin the process...I need the license by January...and I'm wondering if it helps to physically go to the office to get and return the application (and do the fingerprinting that is in the same building)???

People do look at these lists. And what school you go to does matter to an employer - fair or not. I am currently interviewing midwifery students for my thesis and you'd be surprised how much of the same thing goes on at every school, regardless of the name. So don't let hearing bad things about a particular school completely sway you...we're complaining at every school!

Where I have been working the RNs clean up after the births, not housekeeping. I should have said "IN MY EXPERIENCE..." Of course not all nurses are the same, but I have been told very clearly, to my face, by nurses, what I said in the previous post. Glad you don't mind, but of course we can only speak for our own experiences. :wink2: Also, as I am a student, I do not always get to make the final decisions on positioning, walking ect. Preceptors follow hospital rules and students must do as they are told by midwives teaching them! Once we learn the basics there will be plenty of time for us to practice "our way." :wink2: