Two midwifery clinics operated by a partnership of Vanderbilt School of Nursing (VUSN) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have begun offering primary care for women, making them one-stop locations for women’s health services.
The West End Women’s Health Center, 2611 West End Ave., Suite 380; and Vanderbilt Nurse-Midwives and Primary Care at Melrose, 2410 8th Ave. S., now offer a full range of primary care services to women starting at age 16.
Each clinic has as many as three primary health nurse practitioners who treat chronic illnesses (such as diabetes, thyroid disease and hypertension) and acute illnesses, and provide wellness care, mental health care, geriatric care and physicals.
The Melrose clinic offers Spanish-speaking providers and both clinics have Spanish-speaking team members to help with scheduling so patients get the best possible care for their needs.
VUSN faculty staff the clinics, which allows them to continue to provide patient care while educating future nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives. The clinics provide opportunities for nursing students to apply their growing expertise in a community setting. VUMC patients benefit from the expertise of nurse practitioners educated with the latest in advanced practice.
“Our exceptional advanced practice nurses are available to care for women throughout their lives, at the highest level of professional practice,” said Pam Jones, DNP, R.N., Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Community Partnerships at VUSN. “It is a privilege to care for our Middle Tennessee community, and one that we take very seriously. We are all working to improve health and wellness for the women in our care.”
The clinics’ advanced practice nurses provide lifelong health care for women.
In addition to convenient and cost-effective primary care, the clinics continue to offer midwifery services. Eight to 10 certified nurse midwives at each location offer pregnancy care and delivery, well-woman care (annual exams, Pap smears and breast exams), birth control (including insertion of IUDs and contraception implants) and other gynecological services.
The West End and Melrose clinics are part of a network of 10 clinics the VUSN/VUMC partnership operates throughout Middle Tennessee, including four sites at Metro Nashville Public Schools.
VUMC intends to open additional VUSN-nurse practitioner staffed clinics in a variety of area locations in the next three years to meet the demands of a growing and aging population.
