Women’s Health NP

[SillyFever, ADN, BSN, RN]

Hello all,

Just a little background. I am a new grad nurse, currently working full time at a nursing home. I am almost halfway through my BSN and am thinking about my future. I’ve always wanted to specialize in women’s health and particularly become a women’s health NP. The only thing holding me back I think is only having a few months of ICU experience and the rest is nursing home. I fell in love with the primary care route instead of acute care (ICU/ER, etc). Which is why I felt a nursing home would give me a bit more of a primary care (sort of) role, without working in a clinic setting. Anyways, with having only those two experiences, would this hold me back to becoming a WHNP in the future? 

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

I think for someone unsure of a career trajectory, WHNP would not be advisable.  It is such a narrow focus of training with an even smaller segment of job opportunities.  There is certainly a world out there for the larger women's health specialty that does not include care of childbearing women (Gyn-Onc, for instance) but in some cases, NP's with a broader training (such as AGNP, FNP) get jobs in those fields anyway.  CNM, to me, would be an option for a broader range of women's health issues.

[SillyFever, ADN, BSN, RN]

5 minutes ago, juan de la cruz said:

I think for someone unsure of a career trajectory, WHNP would not be advisable.  It is such a narrow focus of training with an even smaller segment of job opportunities.  There is certainly a world out there for the larger women's health specialty that does not include care of childbearing women (Gyn-Onc, for instance) but in some cases, NP's with a broader training (such as AGNP, FNP) get jobs in those fields anyway.  CNM, to me, would be an option for a broader range of women's health issues.

Thank you for your reply! There is one grad school where I live that offers a dual CNM/WHNP degree - I have been thinking about this. As for my career, I know I want to specialize in women's health. I honestly don't have much interest in other specialties but am also open to FNP as this is a broad category.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Did they explain how that dual program is structured? From my understanding, and you should probably post in the CNM Forum too, is that there is no difference in the scope of practice of WHNP and CNM's except for the ability of CNM to attend to deliveries.  In the school I attended, the WHNP students just need a couple or so semesters to add the ability to sit for the CNM exam as well.  Seems wiser to go straight to CNM and forego the WHNP part. However, I assume state laws may dictate that based on prescriptive authority - NP's have a broad prescriptive authority across many states and I'm not sure what limitations CNM's have.

[wwwhhhnnnppp]

I agree that if you’re unsure, a broad specialty like FNP would be advisable. I am a WHNP in a women’s clinic and I work with FNPs who are great. I have also worked with WHNP/CNMs who used to work as CNMs but found their way to clinic life as a WHNP provider so that they don’t have work in the middle of the night. At least that’s what they told me. 

That said, I was in your shoes at one point. I worked solely in medsurg/ICU as an RN but ultimately had a passion for women’s health and knew that’s where I wanted to settle in my nursing career, so I completed a WHNP program and am happy I did. So to answer your question, and from my personal experience, I don’t think that having only those 2 experiences will hold you back to becoming WHNP in the future.

[JustANurseNurse]

I don't know if this will help at all, but, I started training in forensics after AGNP school (as an RN not NP, but NPs do forensics, too) and was progressing along when the pandemic hit, so that training is on hold for now. I wanted to do forensics specifically, but thought that maybe I would be able to use the experience for a future women's health certification. Part of the training in that state included performing speculum exams for people who were trained as "patient instructors", they taught us what to do using their own anatomy, as well as trauma-informed care delivery. Then of course the on-the-job training varied with what exams needed to be done. It is niche and not always women-identified patients, but maybe something to consider if forensics has been something you've ever been interested in. It is a specialty unto itself, though, and requires a drive and dedication similar to any other certificate or internship.