Penny R. Marzalik, PhD, APRN-CNM, IBCLC, Associate Professor
Nurse-Midwifery Program Director

The Nurse-Midwifery program includes the knowledge and skills needed to educate new midwives in the full scope of the midwifery management process. Didactic and clinical course content focuses on role development, assessment and management of women’s health, antepartal, intrapartal, postpartal and neonatal periods, as well as primary women’s health throughout the lifespan. It integrates independent, collaborative, consultative and referral-based midwifery management within an interprofessional healthcare environment. The Midwifery Management Process is included in the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ (ACNM) “Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (2020)” that serves as curricular guidelines to assure that quality education for midwives occurs within the program. The program is also based on the ACNM Standards for the Practice of Midwifery, the Philosophy of ACNM and the ACNM Code of Ethics to assure that all graduates assume responsibility for the concepts and skills associated with the Midwifery Management Process. Shenandoah University’s mission and goals provide the context for this program’s curricular delivery.

The midwifery program is designed to meet the needs of the highly motivated adult learner. Course work can be completed in 24 months of study. Although there is a minimum of 720 hours in the nurse-midwifery specialty courses, completion is based on competency attainment and is dependent on intrapartum experiences. Both features may require more clinical hours than are allotted for in the formal clinical clock hour ratio outlined in the program. These two unique features are explained to students upon entry into the program. Graduates of this program will be eligible to take the national certification examination given by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB). Successful completion of this examination allows the practitioner to use the professional title, “Certified Nurse-Midwife.”

Nurse-Midwifery Program Objectives

Graduates of the NMW program will be able to:

• Synthesize evidence-based practice, clinical guidelines and clinical judgment to improve the quality of clinical practice in diverse populations with consideration for social determinants of health.
• Apply ethical, cultural, legal and social factors that influence access, equity, quality and cost-effectiveness to nurse-midwifery practice.
• Demonstrate, through competency-based evaluation, the delivery, management, health policy process and leadership of advanced practice nursing and population health in nurse-midwifery care settings.  
• Create interprofessional dialogues and utilize healthcare technologies to optimize clinical decision-making and evidence-based practice to support and strengthen patient outcomes in all nurse-midwifery care settings.
• Construct a sustainable professional nurse-midwifery identity and practice that reflects compassionate, holistic and wellness-focused person-centered care for diverse populations.