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 healthcare to underserved and rural populations.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) preceptor Gabrielle Morgan Scharp is being honored as FNU’s Featured Preceptor for the 2020 fall term due to her outstanding dedication to healthcare, service and building up new nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners.
A registered nurse and certified nurse-midwife, Morgan Scharp began her career in 1998 after experiencing her labor and delivery nurses’ compassion throughout her pregnancy and son’s birth.
“I was 18 at the time and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” Morgan Scharp said. “When I watched those wonderful women work, though, it was like a lightbulb went off. I thought I could do that, and so I did.”
After working as an RN for 10 years, Morgan Scharp returned to school to get her nurse-midwifery certification through FNU in 2008, graduating in 2011.
“When I was working as a labor and delivery nurse, I just wanted to do more. I was frustrated working with women for hours only to have the doctor swoop in at the end to catch the baby. I wanted to help the mother through the whole process,” Morgan Scharp said.
Morgan Scharp chose Frontier after hearing about it from a co-worker.
“I went home that night and looked it up. I thought, ‘wow, this sounds amazing, I think this is exactly what I want to do,’ And through Frontier’s unique education model, I was able to meet my goals. Frontier made everything possible for me.”
Following her graduation from Frontier, Morgan Scharp moved from Wyoming to the Navajo reservation in Navajo County, Ariz.
“It was definitely a culture shock at first. Many of these people don’t have heat, running water, or electricity; we don’t have 911 or Wal-Mart. I experienced being a minority for the first time in my life. But, I very quickly loved these people and valued their way of life.”
Although she has moved to various towns within the reservation, Morgan Scharp has been living with and serving the Navajo and Hopi communities since 2011. She enjoys working on the reservation (currently in Tuba City) because of the great sense of community, tradition, and the respect they have for women and elders.
“With COVID, things have been different, but usually, we will have around twelve people at a birth. It is such an exciting time for so many. They also have really inspiring traditions such as putting the umbilical cord in a special place to them so that their child will always feel drawn there and have roots in the community,” Morgan Scharp said.
Although she was hesitant to become a preceptor at first, she has fully embraced the role in recent years and has found it one of her favorite parts of her job.
“I was afraid I wouldn’t be a good teacher, but once I started, it felt natural. I like to step back and give the students I work with room to learn and grow. I know that they have the knowledge from their didactic studies to succeed. I enjoy allowing them to do so.” Morgan Scharp said.
The students who work with Morgan Scharp appreciate her teaching method, but more than anything, they see her heart for the native women of the reservations, and through that- what it means to truly care for your patients and your community.
Student Christy Neese recently worked alongside Morgan Scharp and had this to say about her experience:
“Gabrielle provides so much strength to the team of midwives in Tuba City. She is full of energy and passion for empowering women through her work as a midwife. Gabrielle sets a beautiful example of how to engage women in their world, their desires, and their culture–and to appreciate all of it. Navajo and Hopi culture values and respects childbirth and motherhood, and Gabrielle can support these values, beliefs, and practices with the midwifery care she provides. Gabrielle has committed so much of her life to these women–she lives 1.5 hours from the nearest ‘big city.’ She is far away from a lot of her family, but she is willing to make these sacrifices to serve the women in this rural community. She taught me so much of what it looks like to serve women, to learn from women, and to appreciate each woman as she allows us to participate in her journey into motherhood.”
When asked what the most fulfilling part of her job is, Morgan Scharp said, “helping to create a family and watching people grow. I watch pregnancies grow, babies grow, as well as the midwifery students that I precept. It is a beautiful career.”
Thank you, Gabrielle, for your continued work in advancing nursing and midwifery education and assisting FNU in reaching underserved populations through a Culture of Caring!
To read about previously recognized preceptors or to nominate a preceptor, click here.
Are you interested in becoming a Frontier preceptor? Learn more here.
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).
You must be logged in to post a comment.