FNU launched its Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program in January of 2017 and proudly presents the first two graduates of the program.
Kelly England, DNP, FNP-C, PMHNP graduate has accepted a position at an in-patient facility in Oro Valley, Ariz. Lisa Uribe, MSN, FNP-BC, PMHNP graduate has accepted a position at Palo Verde Behavioral Health Hospital in Tucson, Ariz.
England and Uribe are examples of the program’s early success and potential, thanks to talented students and the expertise of the FNU faculty. Both students entered as post graduate students as they both already were Family Nurse Practitioners. This allowed them to complete the program in just one year.
“’It has been an absolute pleasure to guide and educate our PMHNP students,” says Dr. Tracy Hicks, DNP. “The program is well structured with a wealth of information accessible to the students. The hands-on involvement with clinical sites is an asset to the program. I have learned a great deal in working with this diverse group of students who have much to offer to the psychiatric mental health community.”
While we celebrate these first graduates, many more will soon follow in their footsteps. The January 2017 class started with 19 students. Now, FNU is accepting 40 students per each quarterly term and there is a waitlist to be accepted to the program. FNU has PMHNP students in 40 different states. We are already seeing that Frontier Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners are dedicated, hardworking, and destined to be future leaders in their field. Student Nicole Mutnansky, MSN, CNM, PMHNP Student Class 155 was chosen as an American Psychiatric Nurse Association (APNA) Scholar and subsequently requested to serve as a research assistant for the APNA Health Policy Summit.
The feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive not only for the education they receive, but also for the confidence they gain as they implement their training in their daily work.
“I am more confident in my ability to care for patients with mental illness after taking the core courses,” says Rachel Houser, a student in the program. “I have learned valuable tools in this program that I plan on incorporating into practice to provide quality care for clients with serious mental illness.”
FNU is committed to supporting students like Houser with an excellent faculty. Growth of the program requires growth of the PMHNP faculty. Current faculty have expressed their pride in leading the program and in the success of the students.
“It has been my honor to develop and teach in the PMHNP program,” says Dr. Heather Shlosser, DNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC. “I have the pleasure of working with excellent faculty and brilliant motivated students every day who are all striving to optimally meet the needs of the behavioral health population.”
One such student is Amy Dendinger, who has been inspired to open her own practice. “After returning from Frontier Bound this summer I was inspired, impressed, and empowered by Dr. Shlosser,” Dendinger says. “I have decided that I will open and own my own holistic women and children’s psychiatric practice and pursue my DNP at FNU. I am so excited to meet this challenge.”
Dr. Hedy Rougeau, DNP, a PMHNP faculty member at FNU, says that the already strong program will continue to grow and improve thanks to the expertise of the faculty and the dedication of the students. “The PMHNP program at FNU prepares students very well to become PMHNPs,” says Dr. Hedy Rougeau, DNP. “I truly enjoy working with the PMHNP students here. My job is very rewarding when I see how students progress. I appreciate how integrated the primary care mental health model is part of this PMHNP program. The PMHNP faculty support each other and we work closely together to continuously find ways to improve our PMHNP program.”
As this was my first completely online course as well as my first online school I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t sure if I could expect the same education as I had previously received in a traditional school. I must say that I believe I have received a much better education.” – PMHNP student Angela Astleford
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).