To bring attention to the disparities in maternal mortality rates among Black mothers, Black Maternal Health Week is annually observed from April 11 to 17. Purposefully coinciding with National Minority Health Month, this initiative was established and is spearheaded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA). The mission of the initiative is to deepen the national discourse on Black maternal health in the U.S.; amplify community-driven solutions in policy, research, and care; center the voices of Black mothers, women, families, and stakeholders; provide a national platform for Black-led initiatives on maternal health and reproductive justice; and bolster community organizing efforts on Black maternal health. This year, the theme for the week is “Our Bodies STILL Belong to Us: Reproductive Justice NOW!”
Alumni Spotlight: Tabetha “Jarel” Brown: A Nurse’s Journey
Tabetha “Jarel” Brown, FNP (Class 91), APRN, CNP, NP-C, always pictured becoming a nurse. In third grade, she drew a now-and-then picture of her as a third grader, and the “then” was her as a nurse. Today, that framed picture hangs in her office at Pinnacle Health Integrative Nurse Practitioners in Poteau, Oklahoma, a practice she and her husband opened in 2018. Since 2020, she and her family have become actively involved in Advocates for Africa, an evangelistic non-profit organization founded in Oklahoma and based in Rwanda, Africa. Brown has gravitated particularly to the medical needs of the people in Rwanda.
FNU’s President’s Cabinet offers diverse perspectives to move the university forward
Frontier Nursing University’s President’s Cabinet collaborates with the Board of Directors and university leadership to offer internal guidance and expertise on initiatives, policies, and operations that support FNU’s mission, vision, and culture of caring. In an effort to expand diverse perspectives within the Cabinet, FNU has added two volunteer members, one faculty and one staff member, to serve for a one-year term. Nomination and selection criteria prioritize candidates capable of offering insights currently underrepresented within the Cabinet. This year, Dr. Torica Fuller, FNU faculty member and FNP Clinical Transition Coordinator, and Samana Upadhyaya, Enterprise Applications Manager, were chosen to bring their unique experience to the Cabinet as the designated faculty and staff representatives.
Alumni Spotlight: Connie Smith leads care for sexual abuse survivors in Democratic Republic of the Congo
April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a time for advocates, survivors, their loved ones and the community to come together to talk openly about sexual violence to support survivors, increase knowledge and awareness and identify strategies and resources to prevent sexual violence. It also provides an opportunity to highlight the remarkable efforts of those who work with survivors of sexual assault, such as Frontier Nursing University alumnus Connie Smith. Graduating from FNU in 1999 with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Nurse-Midwifery, Smith’s trajectory led her to become the Coordinator of Survivors of Sexual Violence at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, the capital of the Sud-Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Frontier Nursing University Names Dr. Nancy Pesta Walsh as Clinical Director of the Department of Family Nursing
Frontier Nursing University has announced that Dr. Nancy Pesta Walsh, DNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP- BC, has accepted the position of Clinical Director for the Department of Family Nursing. Dr. Walsh has been a faculty member at FNU since 2010.
Student Spotlight: Ashley Parker selected for SAMHSA Minority Fellowship Program
Frontier Nursing University DNP student Ashley Parker, MSN, PMHNP-BC, was recently selected for the 2023-2024 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) Minority Fellowship Program. A first-year doctor of nursing practice student at FNU, Parker’s selection is a testament to her dedication toward advancing mental health care, particularly for underrepresented minority groups.
Winter 2024 Quarterly Bulletin Celebrates Preceptors and Their Vital Roles in Educating Frontier Students
The Winter 2024 issue of the FNU Quarterly Bulletin features a special 8-page section celebrating preceptors. A message from FNU Dean of Nursing, Dr. Joan Slager, CNM, DNP, FACNM, FAAN, explains why precepting is so important to Frontier students and how the experience benefits the preceptor as well. The special section also includes answers to all the frequently asked questions about precepting, survey results regarding the experience of past preceptors of FNU students, and reflections from students about the preceptors. Additional preceptor information includes the dates for FNU’s second annual Preceptor Celebration Week and a special poem from FNU alumnus Ebonique Shanks, CNM, about her preceptors.
FNU Student Ainsley Stone Issues Day of Giving Challenge
During FNU’s second annual Day of Giving, nurse-midwifery student Ainsley Stone (no relation to FNU President Dr. Susan Stone) issued a $7,500 Day of Giving challenge to inspire others to give back to the university. Ainsley’s challenge that 20 gifts be made to the Annual Fund was met early on in the 24-hour giving event. The Annual Fund (unrestricted dollars) supports the areas of greatest need on campus, including scholarships, opportunities for academic and extracurricular excellence, and the enhancement of campus facilities and resources.
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Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).