Nurse-Midwifery
Circle of hearts & hands: student nurse-midwives
Program Overview
Midwifery has been practiced since the dawn of human history, in fact the Old English word 'midwife' means 'with woman'. A certified nurse-midwife (CNM) has been educated in the two disciplines of nursing and midwifery. Today's CNM is an advanced practice nurse who is qualified to provide health care for women and their newborns during the childbearing cycle as well as provide reproductive and primary care to women throughout their life span. Nurse-midwifery is an exciting, dynamic profession that offers many options for work in both national and international health care, including clinical practice, research, policy and education.
Prospective students interested in pursuing nurse-midwifery education at the UW have several program options to choose from, including:
- Graduate program for RN's with a baccalaureate degree
- Post-graduate certificate program (GCPAPN), for RN's with a master's degree
- Graduate entry into professional nursing program (MEPN/GEPN), for non-RN's with a baccalaureate degree
Students in all of these graduate programs have the option to attend on either a full-time or part-time basis.
The UW nurse-midwifery program was originally designed to serve students living in Washington state and we are now instituting a technology-enhanced distance learning (TEDL) program which is designed to allow students who live in distant communities, in Washington and neighboring states without midwifery education, to complete their nurse-midwifery education while remaining in their home community. The distance program integrates distance coursework with intermittent visits to the campus and clinical placements with local nurse-midwifery practices.
Upon successful completion of one of these programs of study, UW nurse-midwifery graduates are eligible to sit for the national American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) examination to become a Certified Nurse-Midwife and for licensure as an advanced practice nurse (ARNP) in Washington.
The University of Washington's School of Nursing is consistently ranked the number one nursing school in the United States and the nurse-midwifery program among the top ten programs. The School of Nursing faculty includes leaders in research and practicing clinicians. The University of Washington graduate nurse-midwifery education program is housed within the Department of Family and Child Nursing at the School of Nursing and has been teaching midwifery students since 1993. Our graduates are practicing in the greater Puget Sound area and across the state of Washington, as well as in many other states and internationally.The curriculum is designed to provide nurse-midwifery students with a solid foundation in clinical science, evidence-based practice, methods of systematic inquiry and professional leadership skills. Students gain exposure to rich and diverse clinical learning opportunities through placement with collaborative community preceptors. In addition, nurse-midwifery students have the opportunity to participate in international maternal-child health education experiences through the Citizens of the World Scholars program.
Program Accreditation
The University of Washington graduate nurse-midwifery education program is fully accredited by the ACNM Division of Accreditation (DOA)/Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education. Contact information: 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1550, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6374, 240-485-1800, info@acnm.org http://www.midwife.org/doa.cfm.
Notice Inviting Third Party Comments
The nurse midwifery education program at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, is scheduled to be reviewed by the Division of Accreditation (DOA) Board of Review (BOR) for continuing accreditation in June 2008. Please email any written third party comments to jburke@acnm.org or mail to the DOA at ACNM, 8403 Colesville Rd., Suite 1550, Silver Spring, MD by May 19th, 2008. Your comments will be included with other program materials at the June 2008 meeting. In all instances, your comments must directly relate to the continuing accreditation of this program and the DOA Criteria for Programmatic Accreditation, October 2003; Revised November 2006. Please cite the particular criterion of concern in your comments. The criteria can be found online at http://midwife.org/doa.cfm on the right under the heading “DOA Documents”.
Prospective Students
For more information about nurse-midwifery and the UW Nurse-Midwifery education program, click on the links below:
If you have additional questions about the program please contact the Program Coordinator at (206)543-8241 or midwife@u.washington.edu.
Current Students
Clinical Preceptors
Clinical preceptors, for updates and access to information for UW nurse-midwifery preceptors, use the links below:
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