What is a nurse midwife?
A nurse midwife is a term used for professional registered healthcare providers who mainly work with pregnant women, assisting them with what they need in births. The specialists also provide the necessary and required healthcare to infants as well as for women after they delivered.
The term describes as well the person who can work with an obstetrician or other health specialists. As a main duty, they need to make sure that the whole process goes well before the actual birth, the labor, the delivery and then after the birth of the baby. A nurse midwife will educate the mothers in taking care of them and providing the baby with the best care, and in the natal health. Her role also involves teaching about the proper diet which is usually being introduced before and after the delivery of the baby.
A nurse midwife will offer a postpartum medication as well as some tests to make sure that the mother and the infant has a secure health condition. They keep safe records, and they provide patients with visits at home to make ensure the patient’s safety and to recommend it for a discharge.
Job description of a nurse midwife
The main duties for a certified nurse midwife involve working with patients especially assisting women in all those stages of a women pregnancy, in childbirth and after the women has delivered her baby. Their job involves working with other healthcare professionals such as gynecologists and obstetricians by diagnosing and treating women that have acute or already have chronic illnesses.
Certified nurse midwives also known as CNMs have the right to educate and counsel patients where needed. CNMs also conduct a series of examinations and write down a detailed medical history that will allow them to work easier with their patients.
A nurse midwife’s work will often imply administrative duties such as keeping records of their patients. Keeping these records will sometimes be useful in the future, and necessary. You also need detailed research in order to give a clear treatment and diagnosis where needed. Her job will involve as well gynecological exams and the teaching techniques for the others that prepare to deliver their babies as well for their families. They will educate the women on the pregnancy, the childbirth, and the after parts the newborn care which are very important facts to run by.
There are states that allow the certified nurse midwives to prescribe medicines and pharmaceuticals. Their job also involves the capacity to perform procedures and diagnostic tests. Alternatively, in some cases, nurse midwives will order those tests (in that case, other specialists such as technologists will perform the tests).
A certified nurse midwife can also work with men, who need help in reproductive health issues or sexually transmitted diseases.
How to become a nurse midwife?
You need to feel okay and comfortable with the fact that this is what you desire and then pursue your dream. For a settled person – if you are one – the nurse midwife career is right. With this right career, you now acknowledge that everything starts with a path to follow, which will allow to advance and develop certain required skills for the nurse midwife job.
The most common path in this career is to get a BSN also known as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and complete as well an accredited program called MSN that usually has a larger concentration in midwifery. Subjects that will teach you how to deal with patients and how to relate proper to their condition by offering the help they require.
A certified nurse midwife (also commonly known as a licensed registered nurse or an RN) is an expert who has already accomplished a graduate degree in nurse midwifery. Those nurse midwives who already gained their specialization as RNs and already possess an associate’s degree get the opportunity to choose a program that will guide them from an RN to a BSN or to an MSN program.
For you to complete a nursing program, you’ll need an RN in order to apply which will lead you eventually to a bachelor’s of science in nursing. If you take everything to higher levels, you can also obtain a master’s of science in nursing. You’ll find out that many of these programs have a very flexible schedule with classes online where you’ll have your rhythm. You’ll also be able to work as a nurse while you’ll have a chance to attend your classes.
One of the important suggestions that will help you while you are attending the MSN program is to get as much knowledge and practical experience as you can get. With the MSN program, you’ll get as well the requirements you’ll need to become a great nurse midwife.
Every state has its requirements to fulfill for advanced practice nurses, and you’ll probably want to check the applicable licensure. In many states, an RN licensure is required in order to be able to continue licensure for the certified nurse midwives. Having an associate’s degree in nursing is all that you’ll need for your RN. However, you’ll find cases that will qualify you for one of the entry level positions as a Registered Nurse.
You’ll probably need some further education in order to be a midwife such as a master’s in nursing not to mention a midwifery certification. Check the license requirements that you need in order to fulfill the state appropriate level of education for becoming a nurse midwife.
Most of the jobs you can apply for will require past work experience. You can gain experience by your path for an advanced degree. After you’ve got your RN, you can start by working in the delivery or even labor. These hours of practice will allow you to learn about the various types f duties that you’ll have to do once you’ve become a nurse midwife.
After the graduate degree, the next step that you’ll have to follow is the one apprentice year. This part will take you to those levels of birthing such as woman care, prenatal care, the actual birth and the after care.
The American Midwifery Certification Board also known as AMCB provides the certifications. Through them, you’ll get a CNM or a Certified Nurse Midwife or a Certified Midwife also known as CM designation.
To be proper qualified for the CNM designation you’ll have to take a certification examination in nurse midwifery. To be able to get the exam, you’ll have to be able to pay up $500. Another requirement is to possess a master’s degree in nursing, not to mention the fact that you’ll need an active RN license.
Your exam will have a clinical portion as well where you’ll have a considerable amount of knowledge and the clinical judgment of normal and deviations from normal. For this part, both the education and the experience is crucial to developing in you the thinking skills and the necessary judgment.
Work environment and schedule
Certified nurse midwives work in a variety of settings, including public and private institutions. You’ll find them working close with other specialists like physicians or other in settings like hospitals, private practices, birth centers, and health clinics.
Their practice can be in public, private, military hospitals, even universities. certified nurse midwifes enroll in international healthcare programs designed worldwide to improve the health for women and the children as well.
As for nurse midwife schedule she is expected to be on call 24 hours per 7 days where you’ll deliver babies at any hour of the night. You’ll have to be there by keeping office hours for the women care.
If you are at your job you’ll be working for 24 hours straight and sometimes over, depending on the schedule or the place in which you work as well as the setting.
Pros and Cons of being a nurse midwife
There is a huge difference when you are working as a nurse midwife. For instance, you get to meet many women or many public. You’ll be there to help the women bond with their babies and within the early stages being an active part of their lives. Babies are very cute, and you’ll get to be there in the whole process and assist with this miracle for someone to be a mother. You’ll get the chance of assisting a woman during, before and after her delivery. You will also provide the right care that she needs, you’ll create a special bond with her and her family and you’ll be there to help her bring into the world a beautiful baby.
The cons are related with the job and long hours of work dealing with having to clean up the beds after a woman just gave birth to her child. But this is all part of the process of attending one and helping the patient out with what she needs. It will also involve some extended night calls because many babies it might seems enjoy to be delivered at night.
There are times this depending on the institution or the setting in which you are working to struggle for an amount of physician respect. In some cases if you don’t work near a facility with physicians’ backup, then you’ll have to wait for to physician to arrive as well as for the anesthesia. You need a physician in every case of cesarean emergencies.
Nurse Midwife job growth
The employment growth, for nurse midwives, is projected at 31% rate of increase for the next ten years or so, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This increase has a rate that is considered to be faster than the average, still this national long-term projection it is known not to reflect entirely the local short-term economic or the job conditions that are provided.
The major factor that affects this projection is the number of demanding. These professionals are needed especially in those areas, such as rural parts or inner cities, where the medical resources that can be provided are fewer. When it comes to the competition part, a hospital setting is likely for a nurse midwife to face competition, since the turnover can be high. At the same time, searching for a job in a physician office where there are regular hour’s schedules and the conditions there are much better than in the area of hospitals can lead to some competition.
Due to the advanced training that these professionals receive such as being allowed to write prescriptions or perform many duties and tasks as a doctor but with a lower income, nurse midwives are considered to be a vital resource for and in the medical community.
Nurse Midwife Salary
A nurse midwife salary in US will vary according to the geographical location, the level of experience and mainly the years of training. The salary is influenced according to each state and the setting in which you are working.
A nurse midwife salary in US will be estimated to range between $51,068 and could go up to $122,146 per year. The average salary for a nurse midwife in US is $85,141 while the average annual bonus can extend up to $29,801.
As mentioned earlier, a nurse midwife salary will vary according to each state. For instance, a person that works in Indiana as a nurse midwife will get a wage of $80,153 while those who work in New York will end up receiving a wage of $95,854. The difference is also according to the economical background and the job possibilities, the number of hours worked and the facilities in which one nurse midwife is working in.
The best yearly averages can be seen in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin or California. Working as a nurse midwife in Minnesota will get you close to earning $116,423, while working in Wisconsin you’ll earn a salary reaching $111,485. If you practice as a nurse midwife in California, then you can earn a salary that reaches out at $116,423.
Salary of a nurse midwife in 2015
The nurse midwife salary is quoted to be among the high and well-paid salaries in the branch of nursing salaries. To become a nurse midwife in 2015, you’ll need a Doctorate as well. Obviously, you’ll need to be a registered nurse, and you’ll have to possess a Master’s Degree.
A nurse midwife salary has its benefits for the next ten years and even longer. These salaries will start growing due to the demanding number of cases and the economical flux of people that are in need for a nurse midwife.
If this year a nurse midwife median average was at about $79,572 per year the percentage for the next year will start growing. The years of experience have a lot to do with this job. The salary will grow up as you develop relations with the patients and their families and the specialists in the facility in which you are working in.
Nurse Midwife Salary in 2016
The income of a nurse midwife, for the year 2016, in the US, is usually affected by several decisive factors such as geographical location, years of experience, type of employment, education, the area of specialty and other as well. The salaries of these professionals tend to vary from $51,067 per year and up to $122,146 per year, according to the salary data information provided by Healthcare salaries. The median average is estimated at $85,140 per year while the bonuses that are granted to these professionals tend to climb up to $29,801.
A certified nurse midwife in the US, tends to receive a median income that gets around $86,847 per year, according to the salary data survey provided by PayScale. The starting point for these professionals varies from $69,142 per year and up to $106,518 per year. The reward that is granted can reach up at $9,761 while the profit sharing goes up at $5,089. This will lead in the end at total earnings that vary from $70,062 and up to $110,233. According to these surveys, the number of individuals working as certified nurse midwives are women rather than men.
When it comes to the years of experience in the field, each level brings different earnings. For instance, an entry-level certified nurse midwife, with less than 5 years of experience in the field can expect to gain around $82,010 per year while one that already has between 5 and up to 10 years can expect to earn around $93,010 per year.
An experienced certified nurse midwife, with 10 and up to 20 years of experience can expect to earn around $98,010 per year while those who are already seen as veterans in this job, with more than 20 years of practice can expect to earn only around $97,010 per year.
Nurse midwife salary in Canada, Australia and UK
In Canada, a nurse midwife will earn a median salary that will range between C$21,721 and can go up to C$44,405 per year. The median average for a nurse midwife is estimated to C$35,782. A tenth of the people working in this category as nurse midwives will take home a salary that reaches C$25,000. Half of those who work as nurse midwives will take home a salary of about C$83,010.
In Australia, a nurse midwife median salary is estimated to range between AU$33,251 and AU$52,365. 10 percent of the nurse midwives will earn an average salary that reaches at AU$45,010 per year and 75 percent will take home a salary that will reach out at AU$70,010 per year. 90 percent of the nurse midwives will gain a salary closer at AU$84,015 per year this being an average salary in Australia.
In UK, a nurse midwife annual salary is estimated to range from £20,178 and up to £36,623. 10 percent of all assistant nurses will take home a salary estimated at £20,010 while 75 percent of the people will collect a salary that reaches about £29,010 per year. 90 percent will get an average salary of £37,010 per year.
Conclusion on a nurse midwife salary
In US, a nurse midwife salary reaches between $62,482 and $119,692 while the median average will go at $89,605 per year. In other countries, the same salary will be close or will differ according to the geographical factors, economic background and the years of working and having the necessary experience.
- First Published Date: 28 December, 2014
- Last Updated Date: 12 December, 2016