Korah Schwab graduated from Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program in May of 2019, unaware that the world would soon enter a pandemic. Shortly after finishing her program, Schwab was offered a position at Blue Ridge Community Health Center in Hendersonville, N.C., where she began her FNP career. However, as COVID started to hit the nation, Hendersonville, a town consisting of many immigrant and retirement communities, quickly became a COVID-19 hotspot.
Blue Ridge Health was originally opened by a nurse practitioner as the nation’s first migrant health center. Hendersonville is primarily farm country, known for its apple orchards, resulting in a high migrant population. Blue Ridge is an uninsured clinic that accepts patients with or without health insurance; thus, they continue to care for the majority of the migrants in the area. Because many migrants find themselves working in positions without social distancing or paid sick time, these populations have been struck disproportionately hard by the virus.
“The beginning of this year was definitely a challenge. I was a new nurse-practitioner trying to build my clinical foundation among a growing pandemic,” Schwab said. “At first, I thought, ‘I didn’t sign up for this,’ but with a little reflection, I realized this is exactly what I signed up for. I became an FNP to help those in need, and right now, helping our country face this virus is the best way to do that.”
Prior to COVID-19, Schwab’s work was split between the main health center and clinics Blue Ridge had set up in schools across the region. Her second role was shut down when schools in Hendersonville closed due to the pandemic. To continue supporting their community, Blue Ridge organized the school clinic staff to form a COVID-19 response team. In Schwab’s new role, she is on the front lines of COVID-19, providing walk-in screening and testing.
“Luckily, we have been well supplied with PPE and were able to quickly build a solid training program, so our COVID efforts rolled out pretty smoothly,” Schwab said. “We created a COVID triage in our parking lot where we screen all of our patients at the door. If someone is exhibiting COVID symptoms, we have the capability to see them outside. Because of our early efforts, we have probably been one of the most testing accessible facilities in Western North Carolina.”
Blue Ridge has also implemented telehealth appointments, which have been especially helpful to Hendersenville’s elderly population. Many of Schwab’s colleagues have also visited migrant farms and factories to conduct testing and contact tracing.
“Working with and for the whole population is incredibly important to me,” Schwab said. “I did a rotation at Blue Ridge during my clinical practicum with FNU, and immediately liked it. It has a mission very in-line with Frontier’s, which coincidentally is a mission I have been familiar with for most of my life. My mother used a nurse-midwife for all of her pregnancies, and because of that, I actually wrote a research paper on Mary Breckinridge when I was in middle school. I have always found her story extremely inspiring.”
Schwab works 8-12 hour days seeing anywhere between 20 and 30 patients of all ages. She says that she loves her job and is grateful to have the opportunity to affect so many lives.
“At Blue Ridge, we help underserved communities who often wouldn’t have access to healthcare without our clinic. I was led to healthcare through Mary Breckinridge’s story, and this is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing, especially during a pandemic,” Schwab said.
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).