I thought about midwifery before going to med school. Trained & worked as a doula. I've worked with CNMs in 2 states and met more on residency interviews.
The CNMs I worked with do exactly the same things as NPs and PAs. They're workhorses getting work done. There are always plenty of patients needing "straightforward" care, and (a) it's cheaper to provide that care with a midlevel and (b) that's the whole point of midlevels. An experienced midwife is as capable of educating students and interns as anybody for a great deal of the patient care, and I had midwife preceptors. (Cue righteous indignation from med students who've never held a job.)
For instance in the hospital, the CNMs run the obstetrics service on their own at various times throughout the week. They carry the pager and run the floor when all the residents are in didactics. There's always an attending on call, but no MD/DO on the floor. It's a mix throughout the week, with CNMs providing coverage where needed. I mostly saw midlevels running triage.
In clinic, the CNMs similarly got patients in and out. Very packed schedules, 10-15 minute encounters, upwards of 40 patients per day. Usually the whole day is prenatal visits, or the whole day is contraception, etc.
There's a sea change in process for nursing degrees, which I don't pretend to understand, but getting a DNP is starting to be required for advanced practice. So if you want to be any kind of nurse with prescribing capabilities and autonomy, that's a lot more school than a BSN+MSN or masters entry program.
Best of luck to you.
