In 2018, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) celebrated its 10th anniversary of the Doctor of Nursing Program (DNP). To honor the milestone, FNU held a contest, challenging DNP students and graduates to submit posters or videos demonstrating the importance of obtaining a DNP. We are proud to announce FNU graduate, Lisa Kiser, DNP, CNM, WHNP (Class 26) as the winner, who authored a poem titled “No Sufre Doble” [Don’t Suffer Twice].
Lisa works in Tucson, Ariz. which is nestled near the border of Mexico. In her poem, Lisa provides glimpses into the lives of those who work in the clinic as well as those who come seeking care. One element of the poems shines out above all else: Lisa’s love not only for the work she does, but for the people she serves.
Because of the clinic’s proximity to the border, Lisa sees many patients who have crossed into the U.S. seeking asylum.
“Large groups of people are being taken into custody then released into our community,” said Lisa. “We see anywhere from 20-90 patients a day, many of whom are children. With this huge number of asylum-seekers, the needs in the clinic are rising rapidly.”
In her poem, Lisa expresses the challenges and joys of working with refugees who are seeking healthcare “in a culture and a language that [are] not always their own.” According to Lisa, the refugees often have a spirit of thankfulness and perseverance.
“I have been going to temporary shelters to help with translation and medical assessment. The spirit of “no sufre doble” is very present. Their gratitude for care is so very moving,” said Lisa.
Lisa serves as a great role model for other Frontier students and graduates. She is truly living out the mission of FNU by serving the vulnerable in her community through quality healthcare. Her poem brings beauty to the mundane and shines a light on the important work nurses are doing in their communities all across the nation.
“I am proud to be a Frontier graduate and grateful to have the legacy of this organization to carry me forward in this work,” Lisa said.
Lisa will receive a $100 gift card to the FNU book store as a prize for her winning submission.
FNU is proud of DNP students and graduates like Lisa who make a difference in their communities. Thank you, Lisa, for your service to those in Tucson, especially to the refugees who seek quality healthcare and a new place to call home.
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No sufre doble
An End-of Term Poem
By: Lisa Kiser
Irma’s advice carried me this term:
NO SUFRE DOBLE
Don’t suffer twice
So I learned:
don’t wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the project
breathe—BREATHE—into the data—
hold it like the hand of a quiet, introverted friend
who will open to you if you are calm and patient.
Observe, don’t just see:
the parts left blank on a too-long form
the recalcitrant staff member
who enrolled twice the number of patients than others
the volunteer who blossomed
while talking to patients
in the waiting room.
No sufre doble:
What are you waiting for?
This never was about perfection
but appreciation:
the provider who handed out patient engagement tools
to help keep numbers up
the staff who patiently filled out the team engagement survey
multiple times
the patients who deeply listened and chose
to be enrolled in a program and screened for cervical cancer
in a culture and a language that was not always their own.
Perhaps we should not call this process Quality Improvement (QI).
Switch to Spanish:
Iniciativo Querido (IQ):
the beloved initiative
for that which is done in love
requires an intelligence
for which we can and do suffer
but never twice.
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).