Nurse Midwives
The occupation Nurse Midwives covers people who diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process, either independently or as part of a healthcare team. A regular part of the work is to provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients. On the six-type interest model it reads SIC, meaning helping, teaching or caring for people comes first, followed by research, analysis and working through hard problems. Plan on graduate school and often five years or more of related experience; O*NET labels this extensive preparation. Strength in speaking, social perceptiveness, and critical thinking helps most here. People who want helping, teaching or caring for people usually fit better here than those who need creative work with room for original expression.
What they do
Diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process, either independently or as part of a healthcare team. May provide well-woman gynecological care. Must have specialized, graduate nursing education.
Main tasks
- Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.
- Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.
- Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.
- Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms.
- Prescribe medications as permitted by state regulations.
- Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management.
Skills
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You get energy from helping other people move forward.
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
- You are comfortable relying on speaking and social perceptiveness.
May not suit you if
- You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
- You need creative expression to be a big part of your day. Artistic rates 1.9 out of 7 here.
- You want to be working in the field within the next few years.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SIC takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.
Preparation
Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.
Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Master's Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.
Also called
- Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)
- Nurse Midwife
- Staff Certified Nurse Midwife
- Staff Nurse Midwife
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.