Frontier Nursing University is excited to announce the new Dr. Torica Fuller Excellence in Diversity Scholarship, designed to support students of color pursuing degrees as Women’s Health or Family Nurse Practitioners. Established by Dr. Torica Fuller—a Frontier graduate and faculty member—this scholarship aims to foster diversity within advanced practice nursing, drawing from Dr. Fuller’s commitment to inclusivity in healthcare. Her experiences as a clinician and educator underscore her vision for a more representative workforce that can deliver culturally competent care across all communities.
Frontier Nursing University Faculty Selected for 2025 AACN Diversity Leadership Institute
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) announced that three of its faculty have been selected by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to participate in the organization’s 2025 Diversity Leadership Institute. FNU faculty accepted to attend the institute are Dr. Tanya Belcheff, DNP, CNM Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Dr. Torica Fuller, DNP, MSN, FNP-BC, FNP-C, WHNP-BC, CDP, CGRN, CPN, NRCME Clinical Transition Coordinator, Family Nurse Practitioner Program; and Dr. April Phillips, DNP, FNP, PHMNP Regional Clinical Faculty, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program.
Latino/a Student Interest Group builds connections at FNU
National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, honors the contributions of Hispanic Americans to U.S. history, culture, and achievements. At Frontier Nursing University (FNU), these contributions are exemplified by Hispanic students like Emily Chavez. A clinical midwifery student based in New Jersey, Chavez recently helped a laboring Guatemalan patient successfully deliver vaginally after it was recommended that she undergo a cesarean section. Chavez used her ability to speak Spanish and her budding midwifery expertise to guide the patient through a successful labor and birth. The patient was deeply grateful that Chavez stepped in and that she could connect with her in her own language. It was also empowering for Chavez as a student midwife to witness the powerful effects of her attentive and attuned care. This story highlights the importance of Hispanic representation in nursing and midwifery.
Frontier Receives INSIGHT Into Diversity Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award for the Seventh Consecutive Year
Frontier Nursing University has received the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the annual Health Professions HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — FNU will be featured, along with 70 other recipients, in the November/December 2024 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. This is the seventh consecutive year FNU has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient.
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Lourdes Prince focuses on empowerment of Hispanic nurses
Dr. Lourdes Prince has been a champion of DEI throughout her career in healthcare and education. This summer, Dr. Prince became a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Faculty Fellow at FNU and served as a moderator during the Diversity Impact conference in July. She is also a reviewer for the Nursing Workforce Diversity grant scholarship and a member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; the Diversity Impact Planning; and the Culture of Caring committees at FNU. As a Hispanic healthcare professional with extensive experience in DEI, Dr. Prince said an emphasis on DEI is crucial in advancing health in Hispanic communities. She said lack of access, lower socioeconomic status and language barriers often prevent many members of the Hispanic community from seeking care.
Student Spotlight: Jazmene Landing Advocates for Mental Health Awareness
Just a 20-minute drive from the Frontier Nursing University campus, registered nurse Jazmene Landing works at a comprehensive outpatient addiction clinic in Lexington, Kentucky. There, she cares for an underserved population of urban patients who are often stigmatized and overlooked due to addiction and mental health issues. When she noticed a strong need in her community for advanced practice nurses who look like the patients they serve, Landing decided to become a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). At Frontier, Landing found valuable support in joining student organizations, especially the Professional Organizational Mentoring Program (POMP), which matches faculty mentors with students from underrepresented groups.
Frontier Nursing University Announces Plans for 14th Annual Diversity Impact Conference
On July 18-19, 2024, Frontier Nursing University will hold its 14th annual Diversity Impact Conference. The Diversity Impact Conference brings together renowned thought leaders and speakers to increase awareness of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the healthcare workforce, particularly for those working in underserved and rural communities. The conference is a virtual event conducted via Zoom. This year’s conference theme is “Representation Matters: Breaking Down Contributing Factors of Health Inequities.”
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.
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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).