On Thursday, November 17, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) will join healthcare providers and organizations across the country to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). Organized by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, NRHD is an opportunity to bring awareness to the unique challenges that rural communities face and the efforts of rural healthcare providers to create positive change in these regions.
Founded in the Appalachian area of Kentucky, Frontier's mission is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education to prepare competent, entrepreneurial, ethical, and compassionate leaders in primary care to serve all individuals with an emphasis on women and families in diverse, rural, and underserved populations. Today, 73 percent of FNU students live and complete their clinics in rural areas throughout the United States.
Throughout the year, FNU shares inspiring stories on its blog about the impact alumni, students and preceptors have on the populations they serve. As we celebrate NRHD, read about these rural healthcare providers and their dedication to serving rural populations:
Meggan Smith, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Alumni Spotlight: Meggan Smith grows family practice in rural North Carolina urgent care setting
Since earning her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) from FNU in 2019, Meggan Smith, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, (Class 169) has worked to strengthen family healthcare in rural North Carolina from the ground up. Working at Smoky Mountain Urgent Care and Family Medicine Center in Bryson City, Smith was instrumental in growing a much-needed family practice in the existing urgent care setting.
Smith serves patients in her home community of Graham County, North Carolina, where she recently was awarded a Readers’ Choice award by The Graham Star. A rural mountain area, Graham County has a population of approximately 8,500. For residents of the county, the closest hospital/emergency room is approximately a 35 to 45-minute drive, and only one other office offers primary care.
Cody Pittman, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC
FNU alumni Cody Pittman, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, has worked full-time in correctional healthcare with the Kentucky Department of Corrections in LaGrange, Ky., for the past eight years. He also recently opened his own practice named Healing Neurons Psychiatry, which provides mental health services to patients via telehealth. Cody became a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) in November 2020 after earning his MSN from FNU.
Pittman says the focus of working in corrections is to try and rehabilitate patients so they are prepared to live healthy lives when released back into the community. Many of his patients have a history of polypharmacy and substance abuse/addiction.
Pittman recognized that there are simply not enough mental health providers, so he founded Healing Neurons Psychiatry to help fill that gap. With the patient in mind, Pittman decided to offer 100% telehealth services so that patients can make their appointments from the comfort of their own homes. Furthermore, telehealth ensures the privacy of those living in rural areas who fear they may be stigmatized if others see them walking into a mental health clinic.
Shannon Conley, FNP
Shannon Conley serves as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) for Big Sandy Health Care in Eastern Kentucky, a role she has taken on for the past 10 years. Working with a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Conley interacts with many underserved adult patients, most of whom are dealing with chronic conditions and have obstacles when it comes to accessing treatment.
Keeping this in mind, Conley provides patients with transportation assistance, medical assistance and remains cognizant of the cost of medication. Conley also serves as a preceptor in her community, training future FNPs to address the shortage of providers in her region.
Paul Kibby, RN
Student Spotlight: Paul Kibby, RN, hopes to change mental health stigma among rural men
FNU student Paul Kibby, RN, is using his experience in the healthcare field to break down the stigma surrounding mental health in his community. Kibby is pursuing an MSN with a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) specialty, in which he entered through FNU’s Bridge program (Class 174), and is set to graduate this year.
Kibby currently works with a new behavioral health clinic startup in Mountain View, Arkansas. Stone County, where Mountain View is located, has a federal poverty rate of over 20 percent, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In his current role, Kibby is making efforts to research and change the stigma associated with mental health among rural men. He said he plans to do this by sending the local newspaper a letter to the editor, collaborating with the local community center, and having discussions with staff members at local banks, pharmacies, physicians offices, businesses and the local hospital to discuss the need to connect mental health with overall health care.
Join us in celebrating the value of rural communities and help shine a light on the health disparities facing these regions by sharing information about NRHD with your friends, colleagues, and social media followers. Visit the NRHD site to find ideas and resources.
Also, the Health Resources and Services Administration is offering virtual events this week for those interested in learning more about how they are advancing behavioral health care in rural communities.
NOSORH founded NRHD in 2011 to showcase the efforts of individuals and organizations going the extra mile to address the unique healthcare needs of rural communities. National Rural Health Day is an annual day of recognition which occurs on the third Thursday of November.
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).