Greenville, N.C.-based ECU Health now allows certified nurse midwives to practice at the top of their license as of April.
Midwives with at least two years and 4,000 hours of clinical experience will now be able to admit patients to the hospital, discharge patients and write all notes and orders without a physician’s co-signature or supervision, according to a July 22 system news release.
“This was an incredibly important step forward to ensure that we are using our providers to their full scope of practice in order to improve access to care and broaden our services,” Elaine Cudnik, executive director for Women’s and Children’s advanced clinical practice at James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at ECU Health Medical Center, said in the release. “There is a nationwide shortage of OB-GYN providers and ECU Health is not immune to the challenges in recruiting that specialty. We continue to augment our services with advanced practice providers and independent certified nurse midwives who can support that critical maternal service here at ECU Health.”
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