Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP) play a vital role in today’s American healthcare system, but that wasn’t always the case. Just over 50 years ago, no educators in the United States offered an FNP program, leaving a gap for families desiring comprehensive primary care. In the late 1960s, Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery, now known as Frontier Nursing University (FNU), recognized this need and began providing a broader-based education for nurses. Frontier soon offered the nation’s first FNP program in 1970, releasing the first family nurse practitioners out into the field.
In 1999, Frontier enrolled its first FNP class under today’s distance education model. This new model has been in place for over 20 years because it has the advantage of allowing students to complete the program from their home communities. Today, Frontier is proud to have helped over 2,600 FNP graduates meet their goals of providing quality care to families in their communities. With a long history of compassionate, visionary healthcare, it is no surprise that Frontier continues to draw in dedicated students and produce top-of-the-line nurse practitioners 50 years into the program.
Although FNU has expanded and introduced a range of graduate nursing degrees and specialties since 1970, they have always considered their rich foundation of reaching underserved and rural communities as they move forward. Today, Frontier is proud to have graduates providing care in all 50 states and dozens of countries. While there have been many innovations to programming throughout the years, FNU has always centered around the Culture of Caring that rests at the heart of the university.
Through their Culture of Caring, FNU emphasizes professionalism, inclusivity, respect, positive communication, and mutual support. In combination, these core values lead to an incredible sense of community that gives students a life-long support system. Many FNP students find themselves returning to FNU as educators to build on the system that brought them an in-depth knowledge of healthcare and humanity.
“I returned to FNU to teach because I was an FNU student and fell in love with the school. I love the passion for education in this environment,” said Dr. Amber Littlefield, DNP, FNP-C.
Dr. Joanne Keefe, DNP, MPH, FNP-C, also returned to Frontier after graduating.
“I wanted to teach at FNU after attending it myself for my FNP and DNP degrees,” said Dr. Keefe. “At FNU, instructors teach nursing how I always thought it should be taught, using a model where students are the focus. Administration, faculty and staff support them as they become competent providers. I wanted to be part of spreading and growing that.”
Because FNU invests in educating strong nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives, the majority of its instructors still actively practice in their nursing specialties in addition to teaching. FNU instructors understand the challenges students face and remain available to answer questions and provide support throughout their nursing journey. When a student enrolls in FNU’s FNP program, they are joining a team of students, educators, staff and faculty who are dedicated to improving the lives of those for whom they care throughout their lifetimes.
It is a true honor to celebrate 50 years of this impactful program whose students and alumni continue to make a difference. Although Frontier has gone through many transformations since 1970, high-caliber programming continues to draw in and build leaders with a passion for reaching their communities through quality family care. With a history of compassion, trail-blazing programs and foundational support, there is little doubt that FNU will continue to pioneer healthcare, break educational barriers and celebrate many more anniversaries in its future.
To learn more about the history of FNU and Mrs. Breckinridge, visit our history page. For more information on coursework, deadlines and the application processes for the FNP program, click here.
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).