Pediatric Nurse Midwife Program

Parent-Child Nursing Master's

 

Pediatric Nurse Midwife

 

The Pediatric Nurse Midwife (PNM) program prepares advanced practice nurses to provide primary health management to women and their infants, children, and adolescents. Relying on framework of midwifery and adolescent development, students learn to provide direct care for women and children as well as promote healthy habits that reduce the risk of illness and disease. Graduates also learn the skills unique to participating in multidisciplinary collaborations, research, and community education. Graduates are eligible for certification as a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) as well as primary care pediatric nurse practitioner certification from the Pediatric Nurse Certification Board (PNCB) or the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Pediatric nurse midwifery practice is the independent management of women’s and children’s healthcare, focusing particularly on family planning, pregnancy and childbirth, care of the newborn, and health maintenance care for children, including well child examinations, routine developmental screenings, diagnosis and treatment of common childhood illnesses, immunizations, and school physicals.

 

See the application requirements for this program.

The faculty who teach in our program are excellent instructors and researchers, but also expert clinicians who maintain active practices at the University of Michigan Health System – a premier health care organization - and other local primary care settings such as private practices and nurse managed centers.  In addition to their teaching, research, and practice, our faculty are actively involved in leadership roles in national organizations (e.g. Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners) using their expertise to help shape and advance the future of midwifery and pediatric care and education.

Because the experience of applying knowledge and theory in a real-world setting is so integral to the learning process, the School of Nursing provides a plethora of clinical placement opportunities that expose students to a variety of populations and care settings. From rural outpatient clinics and low-tech home births to private practices with the most cutting edge technological tools, our PNM students learn by doing. And during this process, they provide women with guidance during pregnancy, soon-to-be mothers with support during labor, newborns with well child care, children with developmental screenings, and more.

Women and children are the most vulnerable populations in global health, making the pediatric nurse midwife specialty a logical fit for students interested in careers in international health. The School of Nursing is a designated World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center and many of our pediatric nurse midwifery faculty are actively engaged in practice and research in global settings, creating the opportunity for students to have international clinical experiences.  Past opportunities have included Liberia, Netherlands, Ghana, Taiwan, Honduras, Guatemala, and New Zealand just to name a few.

The University of Michigan School of Nursing Pediatric Nurse Midwife program meets and exceeds the Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice as outlined by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) as well as the Core Competencies for Pediatric Nurse Practitioner practice as outlined by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

 

The process of pediatric nurse midwife education at the University of Michigan School of Nursing includes graduate core courses (nursing theory, research, data management, health strategies, and a scholarly project) and a comprehensive pediatric nurse midwife clinical program.  A solid clinical education foundation begins with a course in primary care of the well child.  The curriculum then builds to include pregnancy care and childbirth followed by newborn care and the care of children with common acute and chronic illness. Students engage in varied clinical experiences throughout the program to compliment the didactic foci of each clinical course.  In addition to instructing students in the basics of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of physical conditions, clinical experiences include the social and psychosocial aspects of care of mothers and their children. 

Pediatric nurse midwives are in demand as more women seek the personal care midwives provide. Midwives have been ushering American women through pregnancy and other normal stages of life since the early 1900s and today women seek midwives for prenatal care, birth, postpartum care, gynecologic exams, vaginal infections, and birth control. With their expanded practice, PNMs can then continue to care for the mother while also providing primary care for her child throughout adolescence.

The role of PNMs is continuously evolving and expanding to meet the increasingly complex healthcare needs of the maternal and pediatric populations. As a result, pediatric nurse midwives can practice in a wide variety of settings including nurse-managed clinics, rural health clinics, specialty clinics, research laboratories, group clinical practice/HMOs, the list goes on.

 

In addition to a choice of practice settings, pediatric nurse midwives have multiple career opportunities as there are numerous possible applications of a PNM master’s degree. For instance, PNMs can teach at universities, conduct clinical research on important issues in pregnancy and pediatrics, become active in local and national legislative affairs relating to public health policy and reform, participate in public education, administrate a nurse-managed practice, and much more.

 

Besides the practical benefits of being a PNM, pediatric nurse midwives enhance the health and healthcare of women and children through providing them with specialized care specifically tailored to their unique needs. In addition, PNPs learn an art that often reduces the need for high-tech interventions while also being able to make the latest in safe scientific procedures available to their patients. No day is ever the same. Each patient’s needs are different and pediatric nurse midwives use a range of skills to provide them with the best level of care.

Listed below is the basic plan of study and required courses for the Pediatric Nurse Midwife program. The School of Nursing is committed to working with students to help them balance the demands of graduate education with their other personal and professional commitments. As such, students can select from full-time and part-time program plans.