anapurnas

Hi there! I'm a Buddhist nurse and life coach and I've found the teachings invaluable for helping with burnout. I know not all my coaching clients can leave their jobs when unhappy, and the teaching can really help to reframe things to make life more enjoyable when we can't escape suffering when it comes up. I love Pema Chodron's books - especially "When Things Fall Apart." I have some good resources on my website, which aren't obviously Buddhist but are based in Buddhist philosophy. You can check it out at Ana Verzone | Life & Health Coach for Women Seeking More in Life if you'd like (they're free).

If I lived in Portland, I would probably have gone to OHSU, but I didn't want to move. I am 5-6 hours from any university-based CNM program. Frontier was highly recommended to me by Holly Kennedy, director of the UCSF program, who was also a graduate of Frontier. And she is a stellar midwife, higihly respected in the profession clinically and regarding research. I figured if she recommends it, it has to be great!

I don't know about the 1 year timeline...I am already an FNP so it wasn't an issue. You start clinicals towards the end of the program while completing the last Level (they have 4 levels of didactic courses). I am still finishing up Level I, and will start Level II in August or September. You will be impressed with the other students. Frontier attracts a very bright and self-motivated group. I was a little worried doing a distance program, but once I secured the same clinical site OHSU CNM students use (OHSU is a top 5 CNM program) and met the faculty and other students at Frontier, I knew I wasn't short-changing my education one bit. It is challenging and well-designed. Enjoy!

it was about 2.5 months before I started classes. I was actually applying about 5 months out for a later admission date, but all my materials got in soon enough for the earlier one. I also had to be really fast about contacting folks for letters of reference and securing a clinical site. BTW, Frontier is awesome. I love it!

I got in! I'll be at Frontier in May. Please send me an email if you want to share lodging the night of May 15 and 21. Yahoo!

I forgot to add that I know some RNs who have given up their licenses so as not to have to be held to it in all their other situations such as in being an acupuncturist. It made their lives easier and their guidelines more clear. So it can be really confusing!

I agree with folks about not doing this...unless you are 100% sure the BON has a written policy about this and/or an experienced attorney has some input. However, I do know things can vary state by state. I am in acupuncture school (in a state where acupuncurists are licensed) and asked my BON if I needed to be held to the standards of my license when seeing patients with purely oriental medicine (OM) needs. They (BON) said if I follow only OM guidelines and advertise and sign as only an LAc and not as a Nurse Practitioner, then that would be OK. However, if I do anything western medicine, I need to operate under both licenses and the LAc would be seen as an adjunct to my NP license. This seemed confusing to me and I wasn't sure if there was anything solid that would back me up in court so I decided to assume I could be held liable for not functioning as an NP in a LAc/OM situation. This situation might be different than yours since both examples involve licensed professionals (NP and LAc)--in yours there is no license for the assist. Still, it seems very confusing. I decided not to even observe/"third assist" at a CNMs homebirths since she did not have liability insurance and I was also worried that if anything happened, I would be considered involved since I had a license. If, for example, I saw something going wrong and just "observed," I might be held liable; or if I did something and there was still a bad outcome, I might be held liable, all under my RN license. So, I don't know. But be careful, if you're really worried about assets and legality etc. Good luck! You should volunteer at Holy Family Birth Center something. You can get some experience, and you'd be working as an RN at least in an out of hospital setting.

I do agree with you that it's a personal choice. I was just providing data to give more information, and studies are a good piece of information to have when making informed decisions. A lot of what we do with newborns came from studies, and a lot don't. I think no matter what, people should be informed well and shoudl be able to deal with the consequences of their decisions, no matter the "data" they got. So, you obviously shoudln't decide to do a home birth based on a study if you are going to perpetually regret it if something goes wrong. Some poeple will always wonder "what if" even if the "what if" wouldn't have helped. And if the what if could have helped, some would feel so guilty. So, you have to do what's right for you. That's why I appreciate this discussion--the question is would YOU chose a homebirth, not if it's safe or not--that has already been answered. The rest is choice and opinion.

Oops: I forgot to mention that the study involved planned home births, as previous studies comparing homebirth to hispital birth also included unplanned homebirths, obviously affecting the results. We are discussing the issue of planning a homebirth, which this well-respected study addresses. In fact, recommendations by ACOG and reviews in the NEJM support the use of planned home birth for low-risk women because of no evidence of greater morbidity and mortality, and the decreased use of unnecessary interventions in home births. Thanks!

These opinions are all very interesting. Thank you for sharing! Amidst all this, please let us not forget the recent study published in the BMJ (n=over 5000 births (that's a great sample size!) that showed women properly screened for low-risk birth had the same or better outcomes than a similar population of hospital births. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/bmj;330/7505/1416 The homebirths not only had equal outcomes (including no more mortality or morbidity), but also fewer interventions.I believe in homebirths for well-screened low-risk births, and studies prove we can screen for that.

I would like to add that I have been taught that one should not START any vigorous exerciese during pregnancy, but if you ALREADY exercise regularly, then the aforementioned guidelines are great. If you start an exercise regimen while pregnant (meaning sedentary before), it should be relatively gentle such as swimming and light weights, yoga, brisk walking, etc. So, if already active, keep going as long as comfortable, staying well-hydrated and not raising body temerature too high. If enw to exercise, start out gently and stay gentle.

Hi! I had my interview today, and you were right, Suzan is really nice! I felt very comfortable talking with her. I can't wait to find out if I am accepted...she said it would take a maximum of 2 weeks after all my materials are in...so hopefullly I'll know by mid-April or sooner! It woudl be fun to already "know" someone before going there. Keep us all posted! Cheers

I have an interview next week. Did you have your yet? How did it go? Hopefully I'll see you in May. I'm from Oreogn...where are you from?

I was hoping some experience CNMs out there could post what a typical week is like for them...how many deliveries, taking call, etc. I am especially interested in hearing about taking call, planning vacations, etc, and in general how your days flow. Thanks so much!

Well, it's obvious I disagree with Papadoc, but I wanted to point out a few things. You were saying that you were not given an advantage over new med students being an RN in the BASI SCIENCE courses. This is a "duh" in my opinion as NPs nor RNs have the basic science courses med students take regarding certain chemistry/ochem courses etc. However, this is what such a bridge program could offer. Secondly, I don't know what type of RN role you have/had, but when I was an RN I had to tell residents what to order and WHY because of my previous experience. Again, I didn't take a full year of o-chem, but I knew why you gave potassium and D50 to a hyperkalemic patient. The role of the "basic science" courses--mind you of which are 2 years--is being questioned as useful for being a good doctor, and while the challenge is resisted, it is there. This is not to say basic science courses aren't important, but you certainly can't say they are what make MDs better than NPs since many MDs don't remember the basic science courses anyway. You'll see--you will find some of your basic science courses are in the end not very useful. Again, a bridge program could cover those basic science courses people think are so important. As for the usefulness of "bootcamp" for medicine, this is also an ongoing argument, as the good ol' boys who run medicine are being replaced by some women and more balanced men who look at things from a diffferent angle. Everyone know the studies out there about "intelligence" and how to measure it or what we can't measure. An NP with experience has been through boot camp of real world practice. Don't forget such a bridge program would have admissions requirements. And don't forget there are a lot of bad medical schools out there, and bad doctors, who make bad decisions despite going through "boot camp." I think you cannot say a PA is better prepared to be an MD thaan an NP, as a PA prpgram does not measure intelligence any more than an NP program. Just does more of those "basic sciences" courses everyone is so big on. Also, I know you said you can't know unless you've done both. I will have to say that in my FNP program, I know of 2 students who applied for my year and did not get in, but they got into the associated med school the following year. So, who's more picky in this case? And I also know of FNPs who've gone back to med school, and they did it for money and prestige, and felt the basic science courses were a waste--albeit necessary one--of time. It did not affect their practice. They have done both and they can affirm that they learned more, but that a bridge program woud have sufficed and saved a lot of people and underserved patients a lot of time and money. I hope this helps in giving a voice to those who HAVE done both. I am glad you are in medical school, Papadoc, but please don't think it's the holier-than-thou place they want everyone to think it is.