Donna Bredenberg, APRN, FNP-BC celebrates her roots as a native Appalachian and Frontier Nursing University (FNU) graduate in a role that serves an urban population of patients. Growing up just 20 minutes away from the American birthplace of midwifery and family nursing in Hyden, Ky., Donna left the Appalachian region for undergrad but returned to the area to attend Frontier for her MSN program, where she graduated in 2014. Now, Donna serves urban youth and adult patients as a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
In her role, Donna, a current DNP student, works with outpatient pediatric oncology patients in a clinic that functions as a primary care setting, chronic care clinic, infusion center, and urgent care. But her team doesn’t just serve pediatric patients – they see many adult patients, and Donna is thankful for her family nurse practitioner certification that allows her to properly care for adults in a pediatric setting.
Donna’s passion lies within improving the care of the adolescent and young adult population at the clinic. She previously participated in a multi-site study on symptom assessment of palliative care pediatric and adolescent oncology patients. Her newest research focuses on improving the assessment of sexuality and romantic relationships among adolescent and young adult cancer patients.
She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association of her undergraduate alma mater.
When making the decision to further her education, Donna decided to pursue an MSN because she wanted to see patients of all ages steer their own healthcare through education, support, and empowerment. While she could have received that nursing education anywhere, Donna chose Frontier because it was home.
“Being Appalachian meant I had to move away from home to get a college education,” Donna says. “Going to Frontier meant coming home to further that education.”
Donna was encouraged to apply and then eventually precepted by an FNU Certified Nurse-Midwife who opened her eyes to the world of advanced practice nursing. She embraced that world through her time at Frontier, and now brings an exceptional combination of urban understanding and advanced nursing care to her patients every day.
“The mountains will always be a special part of my life, and now they are a special part of my education, too.”
At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
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).