tucsonash

@mnmary: Hi! I actually just graduated! I finished coursework last week and will take boards next week. I'm not sure if I can call myself a real-life midwife yet (just want to finish those boards!) but I'm so excited to be done and starting my career! As far as clinicals go, I'm not sure how it goes with part time but I went full time and had four semesters of clinical work (the last four semesters). The first two are all ambulatory, so all prenatal care, well-woman, GYN, family planning, etc. It's nice because it eases you into the clinical setting as a midwife. Then the third clinical rotation is intrapartum, one whole glorious semester of nothing but OB triage, labor management, and baby catching. :) It was the best thing ever. Then the last semester is our integration semester...each semester is about 14 weeks. I had a great integration site. It is what it sounds like - assuming the whole role slowly under supervision of your preceptor. The only thing I'd caution you is that a lot of people throughout the program are having issues obtaining clinical sites - particularly if they live in rural areas or areas without a large midwifery presence. So I'd check out what practices take students in your area just as a precaution before applying. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck on your journey to midwifery!

@Fairy dust and @ans0014 - I can't stand that they disabled private messaging. @Fairy dust: as far as the class offerings go, there are plenty of options for the general classes (we take the same courses as the FNP students for the first 1-2 blocks). When it gets down to the midwifery classes, my understanding is that there are less choices simply because there are less of us and they can't offer as many sections. The two hour class a week supplements the reading and pre-recorded lectures we are responsible for on our own time. They are great for clarifying concepts and asking questions. As far as experience goes, you're talking to one of the students without L&D experience. : ) Most of my time in healthcare has been spent in postpartum/newborn nursery and I'm currently a childbirth educator. Most of the students do however have L&D experience (there are maybe 2 or 3 of us who don't). But they also assured me(/us) that they wouldn't have accepted us if they didn't think we were capable. I'm under no illusions that it will be a cake walk. I know there will be quite a learning curve and I'm doing my best to soak up experience where I can (I just started volunteering at a birth center near my house). @ans0014: It didn't take them long at all to get their decision. In fact, the lady that helped me with my application called me personally the Friday night before I got my acceptance letter (that Monday). I worked night shift at the time and was just getting started, she said she didn't want me to have to worry over the weekend. The classes are good so far! I'm in my second block, done next month. I am sooo excited to be done with the general classes and start midwifery classes. In the first two blocks I've taken Advanced Patho, Advanced Pharm, Advanced Assessment, Biostats, and Medical Ethics. I've been to one on-campus intensive and I recently booked tickets for my second trip (in May). If you have any more questions, you are welcome to email me (that's a lot easier). ashleydameff [at] gmail [dot] com. Good luck, @ans0014!

I just saw this thread, but thought I'd throw this out there. I started the program in August and am halfway through my second block (of six). If you have any specific questions about the program, let me know.

I'm doing Georgetown right now. I know it's expensive. I look at it as investing in myself/future happiness. Just took my first exam of my first semester. So far, so good. :)

This is actually not true. The first cohort began in March for FNPs, May for CNMs/WHNPs. I'm in the August cohort for CNMs/WHNPs. Those first students are totally rocking it out. :)

I think it also has to do with where you work! I have friends that are feeling (most of the time) like champions at 8 months to a year on M/S and tele units. I'm on ICU and the more I learn, the more I realize how delicate my patients can be. Literally, forgetting one teeny tiny detail could be bad news. I totally understand how you feel. I feel like in a really high acuity area it has to take multiple years.

Double check, because from what I remember (I've been taking BLS for four or five years now, so I don't remember exactly) that regular CPR class doesn't teach resuscitation with ambu bags and other equipment only for 'healthcare providers'. My card and cert says specifically 'BLS for healthcare providers' and every hospital I've ever worked for (plus nursing school) has required specifically BLS.

I just started as a new grad in February in Phoenix, AZ at $20.50/hr during orientation (4 months for ICU), $25/hr after orientation, +$4 shift diff for nights/+$2 for weekends. However, the positions for new grads here are FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. :/

Phoenix, AZ 7 months until I found a job (from my first and ONLY interview).

I'm facing a similar situation right now (well **hopefully**). I've wanted to be a midwife as long as I've wanted to be a nurse. I worked for four years before/throughout nursing school as a PCT on postpartum/newborn nursery, so I have lots of experience (just not RN experience). I struggled in this horrible job market and looked for OB/L&D/postpartum jobs first. Nothing for months. No one would even meet with me. It was terrible. I eventually landed a job on a medical pulmonary ICU (end of Jan/beginning of Feb). I've been orienting there, constantly looking for a better fit for me. Then I found a great CNM program that might take me without experience. The only catch: it's super heavy on clinical hours and I wouldn't be able to work and go to school full time. IF I get in (I should find out next week!!!) I'll have to quit my job (that I'm three weeks away from being off orientation for). They've literally invested in me and an extra nurse to come to work for almost four months for nothing and I have intense guilt about this. But the more I think about it and talk to others about it, the conclusion is this: DO WHAT YOU LOVE! I'm so excited at the prospect of going back to school to do something I LOVE SO MUCH! Be positive, go for the job. Future midwife love. :)

One of the best things you can do is volunteer. You can rarely volunteer as an RN, but affiliation with an organization (specifically a hospital you're interested in) is huge and when employers look at your resume, I was told (it took me 8 months to find a job after graduation) that they want to know how you've been spending your time "off". Unfortunately, it's hard when you still need money to survive!!! But I ended up volunteering as a nurse educator for a non-profit and it eventually led to a paid position (not to mention an eventual non-related acute care job). Good luck to you! That was one of the most emotionally trying times of my ENTIRE life. Just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Ashley

If they hire CNAs/PCTs, do it. That's how a good portion of graduates from my class got jobs after graduation (especially in this TERRIBLE job market). Some ICUs do use CNAs/PCTs, the ICU I did my clinicals at did, as did the hospital I was a tech at. I'm working as a new grad on a ICU and I worked as a PCT for four years while I was going to nursing school. What I've learned is this: people will tell you that their experience is the best/most valuable experience. People who did the "required" year or two on med-surg/tele before moving to ICU will tell you that it is the best way and that new grads shouldn't work ICU. THen you'll find people who came straight to ICU after school and do wonderfully and they'll tell you that if you know where you want to be, there should be nothing stopping you from going straight for it. In MY opinion, if you're able to be considered for a new graduate ICU job, then go for it. Be prepared to study and make sure it's a program/unit that will support you as a new grad and not push you to take patients before you're ready. Again, the choice is really non-existent for most new grads right now, so hopefully by the time you've graduated, things will be different. Good luck.

i took my exam on saturday morning. anyone think i can get results monday morning? or is sunday the only day not considered a business day?! :) tried PVT, got a good pop-up. it would be nice to get something even close to official, though.

when i got my ATT, i was on vacation in san diego and i went online to see when i could schedule and the soonest option was a week away (and i still had two days left on my vacation!), the other options not being available until middle/end of july. i'm sitting in our hotel room asking my mom/sister/fiance/anyone what i should do...freaking out, of course. i took a week off after graduation, then i took the kaplan course over a week, then i took another week off (we're moving and we are in the process of packing/yard sale-ing/etc.), and THEN i went on vacation. eeek. not a lot of studying under my belt, so i really felt like a week was too soon. BUT we had planned another vacation (this friday, actually) and my family kept telling me i'd feel so much better if i took it before my vacation, less stress, how much more was i going to learn by studying another month, etc. so i signed up for the one week away date (june 19). i came home from vacation and vowed a few things: 1) study study study. no more tv, avoid facebook (as much as one reasonably can), and no more cleaning/packing/house hunting/wedding planning. 2) TELL NO ONE. because no one else from my graduating class had taken NCLEX (or scheduled very close to that soon), i decided i would be horrified by all the constant inquiries about how the test was, how i did, blah blah blah...not to mention if i failed...!!! no way i wanted to deal with disappointing my friends and fam. it's bad enough to disappoint myself. week before i did q-bank questions (about a hundred a day the first few days, ~200-250 the last few days), getting everywhere from a 56 to a 73 (???), i think i did 45% of the questions and averaged 63% for all i did. i was a bad girl and only did question trainers 1,2, and 6 (i got a 61% on QT 6). i tried to do my med flash cards but i was honestly running out of time and decided doing more questions and carefully reviewing their rationales was most helpful. friday (day before my test) i didn't study at all! i didn't mean to do that, but i went to the city we're moving to (2 hours away) on a house hunt, meant to be a morning trip, we found a place and spent the afternoon doing paperwork and logistics, so i ended up getting home in time to go to bed early! woke up, scarfed a breakfast burrito, pep talk from my dad, and in i went! for better or worse! they cut me off around 90 questions (not too bad), i walked barely got out of the building before i started bawling. just all the stress and the importance of the test and wanting to pass SOOOO bad...it all kind of hit me at once. AZ is a quick results state, thank goodness, and our state board actually receive and post results online (for free!) quite quickly, so i might find out tomorrow. i tried PVT, OF COURSE!, and i got the pop up, so i'm hoping (and feeling in my heart of hearts) that i passed. because i haven't told anyone else from nursing school, it's nice to write this all down. i know you all understand how i feel. :) hopefully i'll enjoy a day of celebration tomorrow.