DNP—Nurse-Midwifery
Our Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program offers a track in Nurse-Midwifery (NM), which prepares nurses as primary care providers for women throughout the lifespan.
As a nurse-midwife, you will practice in many diverse settings and provide a wide range of women-focused healthcare services. In addition to assisting with the birth process itself, nurse-midwives offer a full spectrum of gynecological and preventative care. This range of care includes routine examinations and treatment through pre- and postpartum counseling and peri- and postmenopausal care.
The UW School of Nursing has been educating nurse-midwives for more than two decades. We work with more than twenty community sites throughout the region, ensuring that our students gain experience with diverse populations.
Sites of practice
Our nurse-midwife graduates work nationally and internationally in a wide variety of settings, including:
- Birthing centers
- Hospitals
- Military installations
- International health agencies
Some become researchers or educators, though the majority pursue clinical practice.
Curriculum
All Doctor of Nursing Practice tracks are offered as full-time study only.
| The information provided below describes the regular, in-person program offering. Due to the COVID pandemic, however, we are following the State of Washington and campus-wide guidance for in-person attendance, and are offering most courses in a distance learning format. |
Year one
Year one of the DNP program is offered in a hybrid format (50 percent in-person, 50-percent distance learning), and requires that you be on campus one day per week. You will complete core DNP academic classwork with peers across all DNP tracks in the School of Nursing. Content of year one courses includes:
- leadership
- appraisal and application of evidence to advance practice
- health equity
- health systems and policy
- wellness and health promotion, and
- quality improvement
Year two
In year 2, students establish the foundation of advanced practice education of the lifespan, which includes:
- pathophysiology
- advanced physical assessment, and
- pharmacology
Students build upon this in track-specific advanced assessment, diagnosis/management, and pharmacology. You will gain advanced practice skills from these academic and lab courses to move into clinical placements during spring quarter.
Year three
As in year two, many courses require in-person attendance with some courses including distance learning methods. In the final year of your program, you will continue clinical training.
In addition, you will work with your supervisory committee to complete a DNP final project in collaboration with a local clinical agency or organization. This project is presented in the form of a final examination.
Role of the DNP
Our DNP program prepares you not only for an advanced practice role but also teaches you how to look at leading-edge research and apply that evidence to your practice.
The DNP program’s additional academic and clinical hours beyond a masters-level degree gives you a solid foundation to become a leader in the nursing profession. You will work with faculty who are nationally recognized for their research, and also with agencies around the Puget Sound region to gain hundreds of hours of hands-on clinical experience.
By combining advanced practice nursing skills and knowledge of how to evaluate evidence-based research, you are empowered to become a more efficient and effective practitioner.
National certifications
Upon completion of the Nurse-Midwifery DNP program, students are eligible to sit for the certification exam offered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB). First-time pass rates for the years 2014 to 2018 were 100%, 100%, 90%, 100%, and 78% ; the aggregated rate was 93 percent for all students (DNP and Graduate Certificate). The retake pass rate was 100% for students not passing the first-time.
Accreditation
The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Washington is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).
The University of Washington nurse-midwifery DNP and post-graduate certificate programs at are fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1230, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6374; Tel: 240-485-1803, acme@acnm.org; www.midwife.org/acme
Graduation rates
For the years 2012 – 2014, the combined graduation rates for the DNP and graduate certificate programs were 70%, 86%, and 100%. The weighted graduation rate was 93% over the three years.