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.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumni Stacey Eason, ARPN, CNM, PMHNP-BC, earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Nurse-Midwifery in 2019. During her clinicals as a CNM student, she recognized the lack of care options for perinatal mental health. That’s when she decided to return to FNU to earn her Post-Graduate Certificate in the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program, which she received earlier this year.
Now, Eason uses both of these certifications from FNU in her career. A resident of Wichita, Kansas, Eason currently serves as both a CNM and a PMHNP at South Central Kansas Medical Center in Arkansas City, Kansas. She has been in this role since January.
“Family medicine providers have really done the best they can to care for the mental health needs of this community,” she said. “Many of the providers have expressed gratitude to have a psych-specialized provider available to care for the patients in this community.”
As a CNM, Eason works with two fellow FNU graduates, Tarena Sisk and Jamie Harrington. Much of Eason’s midwifery practice has been focused on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
Eason said her experience in midwifery has been beneficial when it comes to providing psychiatric care.
“As midwives, we see people at their most vulnerable place, and lift them into one of their greatest accomplishments,” she said. “Caring for people in dark mental health spaces is similar. They come to me at their most vulnerable, and as we work together, they are able to experience accomplishments they didn’t think possible.”
“As midwives, we see people at their most vulnerable place, and lift them into one of their greatest accomplishments…Providing compassionate, non-judgmental care allows people to feel safe in seeking care for both mental health needs and substance use needs.”
– Stacey Eason, ARPN, CNM, PMHNP-BC, FNU Alumnus
Eason’s patient population is largely rural and lower-income, with a prevalence of substance abuse in the community.
“Providing compassionate, non-judgmental care allows people to feel safe in seeking care for both mental health needs and substance use needs,” she said.
Eason was initially inspired to earn her MSN from FNU because a co-worker was attending the university. She said though she had the option to earn her MSN locally, FNU appealed to her because of the emphasis on out-of-hospital births in the program.
“I decided then, that if I ever made it to the point of being able to pursue my midwifery dreams, it would be with FNU,” she said. “It was the only school I applied to, and I was originally waitlisted. What a relief, with just four short weeks before Frontier Bound, to be offered a seat in class 163!”
Though Eason initially was only interested in becoming a CNM, she said she was inspired to pursue a degree in psych upon recognizing the need for mental health services among women during her Community-Based Nurse-Midwifery Education Program clinicals.
“Way back in that first nursing program I attended, I swore I’d never do psych nursing,” she said. “And here I am, living in that rare place where I am passionate and fulfilled by my career.”
In addition to her work as a CNM and a PMHNP, Eason also serves as president of the Kansas Chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. She also is a preceptor for current FNU students.
Thank you, Stacey, for using your knowledge as both a CNM and a PMHNP to provide compassionate care for underserved patients in your community. We are proud that you chose to study at FNU on two occasions throughout your journey.
Eason has seven children and four grandchildren. She enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons and listening to audiobooks. She particularly seeks out authors of color, in particular, women and nonbinary authors. She describes herself as actively anti-racist and a strong advocate for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC rights and for reductions in health disparities.
Learn more about FNU’s Nurse-Midwifery and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner programs.
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).