1) Entry into the Post-Master’s DNP is available to applicants who:
- Completed the MSN program at FNU that did not include the DNP Essentials, entered prior to January 1, 2014.
- Completed the PGC program of study at FNU that did not include the DNP Essentials, entered prior to January 1, 2014 or entered after January 1, 2017. Students who began the PGC at FNU between January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2017 completed a curriculum that included the DNP Essentials.
- Completed a MSN somewhere other than FNU.
2) Entry into the Companion DNP program is only available to FNU graduates who:
- Completed the MSN program at FNU that included the DNP Essentials, entered after January 1, 2014 (Classes 108, 111, 114, 117, 119 and above).
- Completed the PGC program of study at FNU that included the DNP Essentials, entered between January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2017 (Classes 119 – 154). Applicants who completed the PGC at FNU will have their transcripts evaluated prior to admission to determine appropriate program of study.
PC702 Epidemiology and Biostatistics (3-0)
PC711 Nurse as Educator (3-0)
PC713 Principles of Independent Practice (3-0)*
PC718 Evidence Based Practice (3-0)
PC727 Ethics and Health Policy (3-0)
PC728 Leadership and Organizational Dynamics (3-0)
PC739 DNP Clinical Preparation (1-0)
PC740 DNP Clinical Scholarship Planning (1-3)
PC743 DNP Clinical Scholarship Implementation (0-4)
PC744 DNP Clinical Scholarship Dissemination (2-1)
* Post-Master’s DNP students who meet the following criteria are exempt from taking PC713 Principles of Independent Practice: 1) Frontier Nursing University CNEP, CFNP or CWHCNP alumni AND 2) Completed the last course in the professional role series (NM638 or NP636) in Fall 2013 or later.
Students have the option of completing the 30 credits of the PM-DNP program by following either a 5-term or 6-term program of study.
View the Program of Study
Companion DNP Curriculum Overview
Starting January 1, 2014, Frontier’s MSN curriculum was designed to integrate many of the DNP Essentials allowing FNU graduates completing the MSN to transition into a DNP program via a direct admission process. This is what FNU calls the Companion DNP (CDNP). The Companion DNP is only available to FNU graduates who began and completed the MSN program at FNU after January 1, 2014 (Class 108, 111, 114, 117, 119 and above). The Companion DNP is also available to FNU graduates who began and completed the PGC program at FNU between January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2017. FNU graduates who began the PGC at FNU on or after January 1, 2017 completed the PGC program of study that did not incorporate the DNP Essentials and are therefore not eligible to continue to the CDNP.
The DNP curriculum has been carefully constructed to incorporate the eight essential competencies delineated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The competencies address the following:
- Scientific underpinning for practice.
- Organizational and systems leadership for quality improvement and systems thinking.
- Clinical scholarship and analytical methods for evidence-based practice.
- Information systems/technology and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care.
- Health care policy for advocacy in health care.
- Inter-professional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes.
- Clinical prevention and population health for improving the nation’s health.
- Advanced nursing practice.
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).