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 who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.
When U.S. Navy veteran Robyn Roche-Paull, MSN, FNP-BC, IBCLC, first attended Frontier Bound in February 2020 as a student in the family nurse practitioner program, she noticed a lack of fellow classmates with military backgrounds. She also encountered challenges as a student in processing Veterans Administration (VA) claims.
“I just felt out-of-place with no one to talk to about returning to school as a veteran,” she said. “I asked around and found out that there wasn't anything in place for military or veteran students for those of us with questions about benefits, or merely wanting a community that understood our lived experiences.”
During Frontier Bound, Roche-Paull met FNU assistant professor and fellow military veteran Dr. Joshua Faucett, and they began discussing their experiences in the military and how FNU could elevate its support of military and veteran students. Once Roche-Paull returned home and began working on the didactic portion of her master of science in nursing, she began researching national organizations catering to military and veteran students. She came across Student Veterans of America (SVA), a nationwide organization with chapters across the country committed to empowering student veterans by offering resources, networking opportunities and advocacy throughout their higher education journey and beyond.
During this period, Roche-Paull also actively participated in surveys and focus groups aimed at implementing Student Interest Groups (SIG) as part of FNU’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Recognizing an interest among students for a military and veteran group, Roche-Paull, with the assistance of Dr. Faucett, played a pivotal role in establishing a SIG for military members and veterans at FNU.
As the secretary of the SIG, Roche-Paull introduced the idea of forming an SVA chapter to the group. Following the necessary procedures, including contacting the charter, electing a board of directors and submitting an application to SVA, the FNU chapter gained official national recognition in 2023. Roche-Paull credits Dr. Faucett; FNU Assistant Professor Dr. Sybilla Myers; the initial board members of the chapter, Jason Bennett, Maryln Echivierra and Tonya Morrow; and Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech, Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success at FNU, for their invaluable support in achieving this milestone.
Roche-Paull was elected co-president of FNU’s SVA chapter, serving in the role with FNU Tillman Scholar Leslie Copp. In this capacity, Roche-Paull acted as the main point of contact for the student organization and served as its external spokesperson, regularly engaging with other student groups and university authorities.
Since the establishment of the chapter, Roche-Paull said she has witnessed significant positive changes, noting that the chapter has provided essential resources, support and advocacy for military and veteran students at FNU. She said membership numbers continue to rise across various platforms such as the chapter's email list, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, where valuable information regarding scholarships, veteran benefits and military-related matters related to school and military life is shared.
Through the chapter, Roche-Paull said military and veteran students now have a supportive community to network and address issues unique to their experiences, such as managing education amidst permanent change of station (PCS) relocations and navigating challenges related to receiving benefits such as monthly tuition payments and disability exams through the VA.
“They can receive feedback and answers to concerns about school and we can advocate for them by bringing up issues to FNU Administration,” Roche-Paull said.
In addition, Roche-Paull said the chapter is actively planning to host monthly presentations addressing a range of topics relevant to military and veteran concerns, including mental health, VA benefits and scholarship opportunities.
While a member of FNU’s SVA chapter, Roche-Paull was selected to take part in a unique opportunity: the SVA Leadership Institute. An annual event in Washington D.C., the institute provides a premier student leadership experience that brings together the country’s top chapter leaders through an immersive experience designed to equip tomorrow’s leaders to serve and create a lasting community of impact. Roche-Paull said only 100 students are chosen from all 50 states and territories to attend the event.
“I was floored that I was selected to go, especially once I arrived at the Leadership Institute in Washington D.C. and saw how many big-name brick and mortar schools had students attending,” she said.
During the Leadership Institute, participants engaged in main sessions and breakout sessions led by military veteran executives from prominent businesses and organizations such as Raytheon, Microsoft, the Wounded Warrior Project and the VA. These sessions involved hands-on exercises aimed at defining and refining their leadership styles, culminating in their graduation as Leadership Fellows by the event's conclusion. In their downtime, attendees enjoyed a tour of SVA Headquarters, an evening tour of the monuments in the Nation's Capital, a dinner in Georgetown and a gala at the Library of Congress. During her visit to the Library of Congress, Roche-Paull had the privilege of locating her own published book, "Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: A Survival Guide to Successful Breastfeeding While Serving in the Military," housed in the library.
As a Leadership Fellow, Roche-Paull said she gained valuable insights into her own leadership style and learned strategies for self-improvement, equipping her with the tools to enhance FNU's SVA chapter. She said the opportunity to communicate with SVA headquarters staff during the event was also significant, particularly in addressing inclusivity issues for distance-based learning universities such as FNU.
Roche-Paull said the lessons she learned from the Leadership Institute were relevant to her work as a Clinical Nurse OB-EF/Lactation Consultant at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, as well as her plans to complete a DNP in the future.
Roche-Paull completed a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in FNU’s Family Nurse Practitioner program in 2023. She returned to campus with her family for Commencement in Fall 2023 and was chosen to carry the FNP flag at the start of the ceremony.
Thank you, Robyn, for your significant contributions in fostering a more inclusive educational environment for military and veteran students at FNU. Your dedication exemplifies the resilience and commitment of the FNU community towards continuous professional growth and development.
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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 
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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).