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The American College of Nurse‐Midwives' Dream Becomes Reality: The Division of Accreditation
Author(s) -
Carrington Betty Watts,
Burst Helen Varney
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the journal of midwifery and womens health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.543
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1542-2011
pISSN - 1526-9523
DOI - 10.1016/j.jmwh.2004.12.008
Subject(s) - accreditation , agency (philosophy) , certificate , nurse midwives , medical education , higher education , nursing , medicine , obstetrics , psychology , political science , sociology , computer science , pregnancy , social science , algorithm , biology , law , genetics
Recognized continuously by the US Department of Education since 1982 as a specialized accrediting agency, the American College of Nurse‐Midwives' Division of Accreditation (DOA) accredits not only nurse‐midwifery education programs at the postbaccalaureate or higher academic level as certificate and graduate programs for registered nurses (RNs), but also precertification programs for professional midwives from other countries who are licensed as RNs in the United States. The DOA also accredits midwifery education programs for non‐nurses at the postbaccalaureate or higher academic level as certificate and graduate programs, and precertification programs for professional midwives from other countries. The accreditation process is a voluntary activity involving both nurse‐midwifery and/or midwifery education programs and the DOA. Present plans include another expansion of recognition: to become an institutional accreditation agency for independent and proprietary schools and to continue as a programmatic accrediting agency. Since its inception, the accreditation process has been viewed as a positive development in nurse‐midwifery education.