The Frontier community is proud to have students and alumni serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the next few weeks, we are committed to sharing their stories in order to provide insight, hope and encouragement. Thank you to all the health care workers who are risking their own well-being daily to serve our nation. Click here to read more stories of courage and dedication.
Frontier Nursing University alumni Steven Benso works as a family nurse practitioner at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) in Pittsburgh, Pa. Benso’s office within the Health Network is the headquarters for pilot programs focused on community outreach. In response to COVID-19, AHN’s newest program sends a mobile unit to underserved communities throughout the city, and Benso has been along for the ride.
In more typical times, Benso provides primary and urgent care through health exams and directs patients on best health practices. When asked to serve in the new mobile unit, he quickly dove into the opportunity to provide outreach and healthcare education to his community.
Through the outreach program, the mobile units drive to underserved neighborhoods surrounding Pittsburgh to better assess the impact of COVID-19 in these areas. While there, the healthcare workers provide swab testing and connect individuals and families with local personal care providers (PCP). The AHN team also checks in to see if anyone is struggling to feed themselves or their families or would benefit from speaking with a financial support person.
Benso also participates in seven drive-through testing sites provided by AHN throughout the Pittsburgh area. Additionally, Benso’s group provides telehealth services to the elderly and others who may be at a higher risk for COVID-19 complications.
As COVID-19 spread, AHN quickly implemented further health precautions to keep their staff and patients healthy.
“At a minimum, we wear facemasks around our co-workers no matter what,” Benso said. “When we see patients, we also put on a face shield. If we go into a room with a suspected COVID patient or are going to be swabbing at our drive-through or mobile van, we wear N95 masks, face shields, and gowns.”
As a nurse practitioner, Benso is used to wearing PPE around patients and was prepared for the additional precautions that came with a pandemic. However, being in the medical field during the crisis has dictated changes in his personal life that have been more difficult.
“My wife is currently pregnant, so to keep her and the baby safe, along with our three other children, I often wear a mask at home,” Benso said. “Additionally, we have avoided contact with all people socially aside from my in-laws who quarantine for two weeks before visiting.”
Although the pandemic has had huge effects on all aspects of Benso’s life, he says he still loves his career choice, and his sacrifices are all just part of the job.
“Being a provider during a pandemic carries similar responsibilities, but more intense and purposeful commitment. It is not enough to want to care for the community and the world and then to go home and live recklessly without a mask or traveling to hot spots on vacation. I try to carry a burden for the community, even for those who are not doing what they are supposed to,” Benso said.
The rise in misinformation during the pandemic has been a constant source of frustration for Benso, but he continues to do his best each day to turn the narrative in the right direction.
“Medical literacy is very poor in this country. When that is paired with misinformation and political turmoil, we, unfortunately, have a lot of people hesitant to follow basic healthcare precautions,” Benso said. “So many people are simply misinformed. I work to change that, using every opportunity I have with patients to educate them on the realities of COVID.”
As the pandemic continues to rage, another aspect of care that Benso continues to talk to his patients about is mental health, a priority that he realized while studying at FNU.
“Frontier has always been a supportive program with instructors who are sympathetic and empathetic to their patients. I truly believe my social responsibility and empathy were enhanced at Frontier University,” Benso said. “With Frontier, I continue to be surrounded by selfless, caring individuals around the country. Serving next to them is the highest honor. Although working during COVID-19 has its challenges, my career as a nurse practitioner could not be more fulfilling. I am so grateful that I made the choice to venture into healthcare and that I chose Frontier as my guide.”
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).