DaniellaHumphreys

Hi there! So I JUST found out 2 days ago that I got accepted to UW BSN program in Seattle! Super excited! :) Here are my tips... Your grades are awesome but they are NOT everything.. This year 500 people applied, only 92 got accepted. I got accepted with a GPA of 3.1 (the min requirement is 3.0) Although my GPA is not awesome, I believe this is why I got in.. -Ive been a CNA for 5 years at a hospital -I volunteered at American Red Cross, the needle exchange, assisted with state disaster events, and many hospitals before I became a CNA. -I did a medical trip to Cambodia where I was able to do CNA stuff there (my essay was all about this trip) -My reference letter was from the director of my department and she had a MSN (masters in nursing) -which by the way, getting a reference from a nurse with a masters degree is such a plus. -My essay was a "story" of what made me want to be a nurse. (admissions get hooked on essays that are stories, that is how they remember you) My advice is, do your CNA, take a year or so to get some healthcare experience. See if nursing is really your calling. You are competing with 500 other students where 80% of them have HOSPITAL experience as a CNA, some of them work for harborview medical center, seattle childrens, emergency rooms, etc. Some of them have volunteering experience with awesome organizations. Some have traveled outside the country to volunteer. Some of them have been doing that for years. Although it seems like UW likes people with good grades, they truly want the ones who know that they love nursing, students who went out of their way to volunteer or work in the field. UW School of nursing is the best in the world- They want WORLD nursing LEADERS. Good grades and some volunteering at a hospital will not get you there.. get hands on care, get creative when it comes to your resume. I also did running start, got my pre-nursing associates at 18 years old and thought that my "youngness" and having my associates degree at 18 years old would impress them, but they don't care about that at all (an admission advisor told me this herself) Please consider this advice, I've applied to UW the past 3 years and it was the 3rd time where I finally got it! Good luck to you! :)

I think their is just more offers in Portland, OR because I've noticed that people there are much more hollistic in their healthcare and are using more CNMs there then Ob/GYNs. I always look at the CNM postings around seattle and their always seems to be 3-4 jobs everytime I look. I don't know much of their hours! I honestly think their hours depend on how many patients they decide to take! I know for sure that CNMs here don't make less money then an L&D nurse here in Seattle. A typical experienced nurse with at least 5 years of experience makes $33+ an hour. A CNM I met who has been a CNM for 10 years says she makes almost $100,000 a year. I wish I was able to answer your questions more but unfortunetly when I work with the CNMs I never have time to ask them those kinds of questions otherwise I would! :) But in your motherhood situation, I think you'll be fine! All the CNMs I work with have kids and are always talking about them and what they did over the weekend and such. I'm assuming they have time for their family! They are also in control over how many patients they want to take. I can say though, is that a CNM who works at a hospital usually will come in at the middle of the night if their patient is laboring, even if they just got home from being at the office. A CNM I know was working at a hospital and wanted to getaway from the L&D because she felt like she was getting "older" and needed something a little less stressful so she just works at a women's clinic and does more prenatal and womens health stuff. If your going to move to Seattle, move as soon as possible. Seattle is developing so much right now, a lot of residents here are all actually quite nervous that Seattle is going to become the NYC because so many buisnesses are moving up here. (Amazon and Facebook) prices of houses and everything is going to go up! So the sooner you can move up here the better! :)

Hi there! I am not a CNM, however, I am an L&D nurse in Seattle with the same career goals to go to school and get my CNM. I do work with many many CNMs here at my hospital. My hospital usually has more CNMs on the floor then a typical OB floor. Luckily, WA state is one of the few states that allow Nurse practitioners to have their own practice and be able to do a lot more things independently then other states. Also the pay here is great for nurses and nurse practitioners. Job market seems to be great up here. A lot of people I know who couldn't find a job as a CNM ended up finding one in Polrtland, OR. From what I observe, the CNM's work in an OB office and usually do a lot of the things that OBS do, they can insert IUDs, well woman exams, Breast cancer screening, Pap smears, HPV screening, Health and wellness counseling, STD screening, prescribe medications including narcotics, pregnancy testing, prenatal care, problems with menstraton, fertility evaluation, UTIs, Menopause health promotion, and screening for hypertention, heart disease, and diabetes. CNMs have a bigger scope of practice here. My hospital specifically doesn't have the CNMs first assist in c-sections, however other hospitals in the seattle area allow their CNMs to do so (with first assist certificaton). CNMs are great providers to have around because they help a lot with the lady partsl deliveries. CNMs cannot do forcep deliveries or vaccum, which is a national standard. Some CNMs are on call, some are not. They spend a lot more time with their patients then the OBs do. I love having them around and they seem pretty happy with their job! -Daniella.

Hi there! So I don't know anything about Baylor but I can tell you the difference between a Masters and Doctorate in Midwifery. A masters and doctorate in midwifery provide you the same training to become a CNM, the only difference between a MSN and a DNP is that the DNP provides some courses on research in your specialty in case you wanted to go into research one day in Midwifery. Having a DNP also provides leadership and teaching courses in your studies in case one day in the future you wanted to become a proffessor for a Midwifery program at a university. However both a MSN and DNP give you the exact same training to become a CNM and work as one, Like I said the DNP just allows you to teach the speciality and know more in depth for research purposes if thats your thing!

Hi all! I will be graduating nursing school soon and have always wanted to become a labor and delivery nurse and continue to become a certified nurse midwife after years of experience as an L&D nurse. I do travel A LOT! I guess you can say I visit 3-4 countries a year (backpacking) and some of those countries I visit are often for medical mission trips. I've had a love to become a CNM with my experience through traveling to certain countries where there are high death rates for mothers and newborns during labor and I really want to change that in the future when I become a CNM. I know CNMs are very needed for international volunteer work (especially countries like Cambodia, Africa, India, etc.) and wanted to know if being a CNM at a hospital or birthing center allows you to have time to do things like that? With all the deliveries you guys have do, do you have time for personal life and family life? Are you able to take vacations or travel often as a CNM? I guess I'm just curious because I know the lives of OB/GYNS are very busy as they drive to hospitals weekly to catch babies and often staying the night at the hospital in case of an emergency, on top of that being on-call all the time, does this go the same with CNMs? I woud also like to know how it's like being a CNM for the military such as the Airforce if any of you had experience with that. I would like to get some input on your guys experience as a CNM. Thank you :)

Hi sorry for the information that you find false but according to almost every graduate school I've looked into requires at least 2 years of L&D experience. I know because I looked at it again to make sure I wasn't posting false information but after double checking yes you do need 2 years labor and delivery experience. It really depends on the university really.. I only looked at schools in WA, CA, OR.

Hi there! I have the same ambitions as you except right now I am a CNA in the postpartum unit and in nursing school currently. I have been researching this the past couple years. The best schools for CNM are Oregon State University school of health sciences. (has been #1 for a long time) and University of Washington which has been the top 5. Both these schools offer a BSN-DNP. Having a DNP in Midwifery would really be the best way to do this because in DNP school you are learning more in Midwifery then you are in a masters program. For example, I got told that a CNM from a DNP program can do things like circumsisions, first assist in c-secs, etc. Plus being a CNM up here in the pacific northwest gets paid more then anywhere in the united states. Yes you do need L&D experience as a RN! anything that has to do with maternity is considered experience. Some schools will accept postpartum experience but a majority of them require RN L&D experience of at least 2 years. I've done lots of medical mission trips to cambodia, africa, and south america and I haven't yet met a CNM who gets "paid" to travel and do her job but I have met many of them as volunteers and it truly is a blessing being a midwife to women in undeveloped countries that have never had assistance with giving birth. I know that a midwife from england can't just move to the U.S and be a midwife because being a midwife in Europe only requires a bachelor degree, while in U.S it is masters/doctors. I am not sure though if it can work the other way around though. However there are still many opportunities to be a CNM internationally which you can look at what kinds of opportunities their are under the american college of midwifery. Global Outreach | American College of Nurse-Midwives

Get your CNA license!!! Got mine at 17 years old, worked at an assisted living for a year and a half, got a job at a hospital in orthopedics (fractures, bone/joint surgeries) been there for a year and a half, applied to Post partum (where the moms go with their babies after they give birth) and because I had this neonatal experience as a CNA, I am proud to say that I am now a NICU RN with the help of this experience! :) Be a CNA first seriously, because a CNA license gives you an open eye to how the nursing field is really like and you will even get to see if nursing is something you even want to do! Every nurse regardless what kind of nurse they ended up being had to take care of an old person at some point, it sometimes annoys me that people only want to be an RN for kids and babies because they "hate" old people or don't want to deal with them when in fact old people are mainly what your learning about in nursing school! Either way, get your CNA first, thats my best advice. by the way every nurse has to work weekends and holidays unless they've been a nurse for 15+ years. Nurses can work 5 days a week but it depends on what you were hired for..part time or full time working? Lastly, like I said volunteer at a hospital or get your CNA once you turn 17/18 years old.

It would be more appropraite to email her to make an appointment to talk about the position in person or walk in the office to see if she's available to talk to you more about the position. Managers get so many emails a day especially from people wanting positions. They would prefer to see a face. I've gotten all my jobs by walking in and meeting managers in person. If she says that you don't have "enough" experience or the right qualifications to work in the NICU then apply to Mother Baby (postpartum) It's very easy to transfer from postpartum to NICU, plus it will help give you that neonatal experience before setting into NICU.

I would personally try working in postpartum first. You will learn how to assess and examine well babies to make sure they are healthy before going home, you will learn A LOT from this if you want to do NICU, lots of skills from post partum is helpful towards NICU. Working in post partum you will also learn how to teach moms how to breastfeed and answer any questions or concerns they may be having regarding their newborn. I've noticed in my experience that the NICU nurses who have only ever worked in NICU are typically uncomfortable and inexperienced with having conversations with parents regarding their newborns care especially if the baby is in NICU. The nurse in NICU is also responsible to teach the parents how to breastfeed their premature baby so these are skills you can learn from post partum. That would be my best advice!

Hi guys so I currently am a CNA in the childbirth center at a hospital here in Seattle, WA with an interview for a residency at my hospital in their level 3 NICU as an RN (just graduated) I'm sure I'm going to get it because the NICU manager and I are close. Anyway, my future goal is to be a flight nurse and I love the acute care setting and learning what to do in an emergency situation for all types of people and ages. If I do get in NICU, I know the PICU here in Seattle likes RNs that have NICU level 3/4 experience so that's what I'd most likley end up doing after a couple years in NICU. From PICU I can always jump into an adult ICU with the experience I'll have since I know thats basically required to become a flight nurse. My questions are... Does NICU/PICU experience count towards the 5-10 years experience of ICU to become a flight nurse? Do you HAVE to have ED experience? Does having NICU/PICU experience make you more qualified to getting a job as a flight nurse? (is it a bonus to have?) on top of adult ICU experience? Thank you!

Honestly it's really hard to get into the NICU as a new graduate nurse unless you were a CNA in the childbirth center but I know NICU usually wants nurses who have worked with babies/children before. The best way to get into a NICU position is to start off in Postpartum. The reason I say Postpartum is because you work with mothers whojust gave birth and well babies. In post partum not only are you taking care of the mother and getting that adult nursing experience but you also learn how to examine the baby to make sure nothing is wrong and doing baby assessments which is skills you would need anyway for NICU. You also get to learn how to talk to parents concerning their newborn child. Typically the L&D, postpartum, and NICU are all connected departments so it's easier to transition from one department to another after a year of working in one of them. Also, from what I've seen postpartum does hire new graduates. Source: I work in Postpartum.

Of course you should get your CNA!! I got my CNA at 17 years old. Started off at an assisted living for a year and a half, got a job at a hospital in Orthopedics. I've always wanted to get into pediatrics but the Children's hospital was so hard to get a job in so I knew the easy way to get experience as a CNA with peds at my hospital was to try to get a CNA job in postpartum which was the only department at my hospital that had CNAs do hands on care with neonates/babies. Because I was a CNA at the hospital already it was so easy to transition to an other floor because hospitals rather hire from within then take the time and money to train someone from outside the hospital. It may be different in other states but the hospitals in WA state usually give their nurse residencies to the CNA's at the hospital FIRST that have just graduated a nursing program. 2 CNA's at the postpartum department both got jobs here after they completed their RN and they didn't even have BSN yet which is important to the hospitals here in WA, so yes it is beneficial to be a CNA, plus if you only have assisted living/nursing home experience as a CNA, it is still good enough to put on your resume for when you do apply to nurse residencies.