Q's about the bachelor Of Midwifery Undergraduate degree

Hi Girls,

I need to decide whether I will do Nursing then a masters degree in Midwifery (and be qualified as a RN & RM) or whether I will just do a bachelor of midwifery (and be a qualified RM only).

I know that in many ways it would be advantageous to do both, but I do not have any real interest in other facets of nursing besides midwifery.

If I were just to do a midwifery degree am I qualified to practice in all facets of the job? EG: can I still administer medications, work in the special care nursery and tend to women in the postnatal ward etc????

As an RM you are qualified to care for women from conception through to 6 weeks postnatal. This includes working in SCN, administering medication and obviously post natal wards. Currently in SA we are working towards getting RM's prescribing rights, as the midwives in NZ have. You need to decide if you want to be a nurse or a midwife, then decide from there.

QUT and Uni of QLD now offer a double degree in Nursing and Midwifery - might be an option if you can't decide which way you want to go. I am thinking of transfering out of my nursing degree down the track to do that.

SamanthaP, thanks for the reply. I was just worried that there might be some restrictions and that it might affect my chances of getting a job when there are people out there who have both degrees, especially seeing as the BMid is pretty new in QLD. But i guess the country is screaming for nurses and midwives isn't it!

Hi Bon, Yes I did know that UQ and QUT have the dual degrees. I'll have to find out whether the main focus is on midwifery though as if there is a huge nursing component I'm not sure I'd like it. I got accepted into the BMid at ACU for this year but I could not accept it as their timetable was not very good and it mean't I would have had to attend Uni every day of the week :(, which just isn't doable when I live on the Coast and have a little bubba. Would LOVE to get into the BMid through UQ as you are based in a hospital straight away. You have problem based learning at the hospital on Mondays then you do two 8 hour shifts per week in the antenatal clinic, postnatal ward or birth suites (birth suites from second semester onwards) where you are buddied up with one of the midwives as your "mentor". Then there is one day a week of non compulsory lectures at the uni (which I wouldn't go to as you can just download them off the net). What are you currently studying?

Charli'smumma - because its a double degree there is equal focus on nursing and midwifery, because at the end you effectively have 2 degrees - 1 in nursing and 1 in midwifery. If you don't really have in interest in nursing I wouldn't bother with it - just do a midwifery degree. I am currently doing a Bachelor of Nursing with Central Queensland Uni via distance. I am really liking it so far, although its only my first year and I am part time. CQU don't offer a BMid, just postgrad midwifery. I have an equal interest in nursing and midwifery which is why I would like to do the double degree. Right now though it is only offered in full time, which means travelling to Brisbane every day and I don't want to, and can't really afford to, have my kids in daycare full time. So distance ed is perfect right now!

Hi Bon.

Did you apply for nursing at CQU through QTAC?
My OP wasn't quite good enough to get into the midwifery at UQ so I was thinking of doing 4 nursing subjects to get my OP up to get into UQ. Otherwise I should be able to get into ACU again. I just like UQ's course structure much better.

I know what you mean about the travelling thing though. The closest uni to me is Griffith but they don't have an undergraduate mid degree yet. Although they are thinking about it but probably not until the new tertiary hospital is built here on the coast in 2012 and I don't want to wait that long :)

Yep I applied through QTAC. I like the course structure of UQ too, although their schools of nursing and midwifery are based at Ipswich I think? So you would have to go there for the on-campus days. Which is too much travelling for me unfortunately.

Maybe you could go with ACU with the aim of transfering to UQ after you have done a few subjects?

Hi Bon,

Yeah I was thinking of starting at ACU and changing to UQ as another option.

Yep you are right, the BN & BMid degrees are based at the ipswich campus but from the 6th week of your first year you are based at a hospital for 3 days a week and have only one day of lectures on campus which you can get away without going to them if you're happy to download the lecture notes off the net instead.
The BMid is based at either Ipswich Hosp or RBWH and the dual degree is based at the Mater.

:cheer::hooray::cheer: I am sooo excited.

I just got an email back from the Nursing and Mid course convenor at Griffith University. She I hopeful that they will be offering a BMid in 2010. They are in the process of securing clinical placements now. I've got my :crossfingers: as that would be perfect for me!

Back to your Q about whether or not there are any restrictions on what you can/can't do if you have a straight Bach Mid (no nursing), I think it varies from State to State as a friend of mine recently told me about an experience where only certain mids at the hospital she birthed in were able to administer meds. So perhaps check with the Board of Nursing (which also covers Midwives) in the State/Territory you are planning on practicing in.

HTH

MG

I have an acquaintance who has just completed her midwifery masters in QLD. She was saying that she doesn't feel at all comfortable in the labour ward environment. They have much lower standards than the Bmid course. I think it's something like only 15/20 NVBs to register compared to 40 NVB's for the Bmid course. I can't remember all the differences as we had the discussion a good six months ago, but it was so striking the difference in what you learn. She said that people assume that because you're a nurse you somehow know about midwifery, which obviously it doesn't. Scary stuff.

MG, I'm not sure about that. It doesn't sound right to me. You can register as an RM in all states of Australia now. I'd be interested to hear more if you find out.

I did by nursing and then worked for a few years and then did my midwifery and i loved doing it this way i felt having nursing backgroud gave a grounding on diff medical conditions that i have come accross occasional in mid.

I work in a hopsital who does employ Bmids and also has students throught and if something is out of the ordinary the girls who did bmid often feel out of there depth as they have learnt about it and they dont know what peopel are talking about in handover. THIS IS NOT AN OCCURANCE ALL THE TIME BUT DOES HAPPEN.

The bmids in vic are restricted to major hospitals as of course going to the country areas they want staff who can work in general as well as they dont have many births and cant always gurrantee that they will be working with mid patients.

The double degree is a great choice a frined of mine did that and worked in mid for 2 years and has now moved to teh country and is working in nursing and mid and loving it, she liked doing the course this way for the same reasons i did mine seperate.

MG, Samantha & Feeb. Thanks so much for your replies. There are certainly pro's and cons either way aren't there.
I think I am going to do the BMid, especially if our local Uni - Griffith, starts the course in 2010. I don't think I'll be needing to work in any rural settings (don't think I'll ever be able to get DH to leave the Gold Coast) so that won't be a concern.
Griffith already has an affiliation with the current Gold Coast Hospital and in 2012 there will be an additional tertiary hospital opening here on the coast. They are calling it a Super Hospital. It will be as good as any of the major hospitals in the capital cities. No babies will ever have to be transfered to Brisbane from the Gold Coast again. In the postnatal ward every mother will have their own room with own bathroom and fridge etc. Also the SCN will have private rooms so mums can stay there right with their bubs. It's all very exciting and I'm very excited about the oportunity to be able to learn and possibly work in this hospital.
I guess if i do decide I'd like to be an RN I can always do it afterwards. I know it's the ass-about way of doing things but I really just want to be spending 3 years doing a degree that I enjoy and if BMid is going to give me more knowledge and experience in the field of mid first up, then I think it's the way to go for me.

Thanks again for your replies.

PS: feeb, not long now hey :)

Nope not long now i am so excited!!

How exciting Feeb, enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. It'll be over so quickly :D

Just a question guys. Where you work, do midwives who are also an RN get a higher rate of pay then those who are only RM's?
Not that it's all about the money for me because it isn't. An aquaintance of mine who is an RN & RM apparently gets a specialist rate of pay but I was wondering if that was maybe because she works for an agency.

You get paid the grade of nurse you are according to years of working (or if like me you have applied for CMS clinical midwife specilaist at that rate) plus a diploma allowance for having done post grad studie (its not much but better than nothing) you get paid more again if you have masters.

Hi ladies....

I am currently first year of the dual degree of nursing/midwifery at UQ. It is very hard work, four full days a week and a heap of research is involved as it is basically self directed learning.

Studying at UQ is very different to other uni's because of the problem based learning/self directed study... I did first year nursing last year at QUT but applied to UQ for this year just to do the double degree.. because it is structured very differently, I was unable to get credit for most of what I have done previously :( however fortunately enough I loved what I did last year and did not find it a total waste of time!!

Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to message me, or you can msn me on mum23girls@hotmail.com

Good luck with what you decide to do!!

Hi 3GO,

Oh what a bummer that you didn't get credits for all the subjects you did at QUT.
Do you go to the lectures every week at UQ Ipswich as well? Or just your PBL at the Mater?

Thanks for your email address. I probably will have some questions to bug you with :)

I've got my fingers crossed that Griffith will be starting the BMid in 2010. The course convenor will know for sure in August so I've got my :crossfingers:

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Do you go to the lectures every week at UQ Ipswich as well? Or just your PBL at the Mater?

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Hi! I really don't know why they say that the lectures are non compulsory... they are the basis of the course, your public health and anatomy and physiology. Yes, I go and would be so lost if I didn't!!

We do two 8 hour shifts a week.. could be 6am-2pm or 1/2pm-9/10pm, one day at the Mater for PBL and clinical skills, then lectures on Fri.

I like some aspects of the course, you only do one unit at a time that is the good thing... each week there is a approx. 600 word essay on a chosen topic from PBL... very self directed, one 1200 word assignment every 4 weeks (3 of them to do per semester) and one oral presentation every 4 weeks (three per semester. It is very research based. I like the integrated exam at the end of semester (yet to do it though!), they do one exam for the three units altogether. So there is one three/four hour exam at the end. However it is worth 50% of the course, so if you freeze up then there are no second chances!! I don't like the self directed aspect though. I need to be taught, I find it very hard to just read to learn, I need further clarification which doing it this way lacks IMO. I judt have my eye on the end product and just plug along!!

We moved from northside of Brisbane to just out of Ipswich, to be close to Uni and their library. Also on the northside where we were, I couldn't find anywhere that had availability for afterschool care... I had my name down at 10 centres with no luck. It has been a good move though because it encouraged hubby to find a new job that he is happier in.

Good luck, hope Griffith can offer you something! It is a great feeling when you know exactly what you want to do. It took me until I was 29 to get that feeling!!! I doubt that it will be long before there are direct entry Mid courses at all uni's!! It may be worth doing something related just to better your chances at getting in, as it is a very competitive course to enter into. Especially if it is a new course they are offering. QUT set their OP as 2 for the double degree, I chose UQ for their graduate reputatation though!

Hi
I too was tossing up whether to do a straight Bachelor of Midwifery or a combined Midwifery/Nursing degree for the reasons mentioned but after talking to a midwife at Griffith Uni I was reassured that if a Midwife is what I want to be then I should do just the BMid as a RM can do everything required of a midwife. I think I will be applying to Griffith to study BMid next year as the Logan campus and Logan Hospital are fairly close to home which will make life easier (with 2 kids at school). It would be great to study at UQ and if I could be based at the RWBH birth centre for clinical practice but the extra costs with travel, parking and the time and distance involved isn't practical for my situation. I've heard that BMid is a pretty full on degree - is it really hard work ? I would love to hear from any BMid students out there on the workload. Especially from girls doing the course at Griffith. I'm hoping to also continue working one day a week at a pharmacy. Am I totally insane?!?