Deborah Mitchum DNP, ANP-BC, Maribeth McLaughlin BSN, MPM, Vice President Operations at Magee Women’s Hospital, & Lynn George, PhD, RN, CNE
Carlow University’s newest master’s program – a women’s health nurse practitioner master’s degree – isanswering a critical need in the community, and some of theregion’s experts in women’s healthcare are noticing.
“Carlow has developed a much needed program to train additionalproviders dedicated to women’s health,” said Maribeth McLaughlin,BSN, MPM, vice president of operations at Magee-Women’s Hospital of UPMC. “Magee is focused on providinghigh-quality care for this population across the region, and thestudents enrolled in Carlow’s WHNP program will graduate with the knowledge andskills to support these efforts in the years to come.”
This program is coming at a critical time. Since1987, the mortality rate for women in childbirth has more thandoubled. Women in 2017 are also more likely to die froma first heart attack than men are.
“The students will be specifically trained to provide primary,gender-specific, gynecological and obstetrical care across awoman’s lifespan,” said Lynn E. George, PhD,dean of the College of Health and Wellness at Carlow.
The Carlow program, which is the only women’s health nursepractitioner program in western Pennsylvania, has already beenapproved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing and accredited bythe Commission onCollegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
“Our primary goal is twofold: to increase the number anddistribution of advanced practice WHNP in designated medicallyunderserved and health care provider shortage areas in westernPennsylvania and beyond, and to meet the growing health care needsof women from puberty, through the child-bearing years,post-menopause, and as elders,” said Deborah Mitchum,DNP, ANP-BC, the program director of the Graduate NursePractitioner Programs at Carlow. “Through thisprogram, Carlow also plans to prepare optimally qualified advancednurse practitioners to serve as leaders of practice innovation andchange.”
Carlow’s WHNP program can be completed in a little more than twoyears by taking classes offered in a hybrid format: in-person,online, and practicum. Graduates will be eligible to sit for boardcertification as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner throughthe NationalCertification Corporation (NCC).
For more information about the WHNP program at Carlow, please visit the WHNP webpage or call (412)578-6125.