Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) commitment to fostering a culture of caring has never been more evident than in our country’s current time of crisis.
In recent days, organizations across the U.S. have been forced to make urgent decisions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. To protect students and faculty, FNU transitioned its most recent Frontier Bound event, a multi-day orientation that normally takes place on campus in Kentucky, into a fully virtual event for incoming students.
Using video webinar technology, Frontier Bound attendees were able to see and talk to one another in real-time, share information and nurture dreams.
FNU associate dean of midwifery Dr. Tonya Nicholson said, “As presenters, we could share our screens in order to have the incoming students ‘see’ and get to know us as faculty, learn how to utilize the technology and connect face-to-face with fellow incoming students.”
Students exiting the Frontier Bound experience left feeling connected to one another and the university, inspired in their career choice and ready to start their FNU journey.
A Culture Of Caring
Everything we do at FNU is built on a foundation that embraces a culture of caring, recognizing that every individual has value and worth. The ripple effect of this culture of caring spreads far beyond FNU community members to the wider healthcare system, with the goal to improve patient outcomes all over the country and the world.
The five elements of FNU’s culture of caring include:
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- Professionalism (Excellence, responsibility, transparency, consistency)
- Inclusivity (Equality, awareness, sensitivity, humility)
- Respect (Importance, uniqueness, friendliness, genuine interest)
- Positive Communication (Understanding, thoughtfulness, openness)
- Mutual Support (Helpfulness, awareness, patience, concern, kindness)
Frontier Bound Goes Virtual
To kick off their virtual Frontier Bound experience, students met together for a general welcome and a glimpse into the rich history and heritage of FNU. They saw pictures and heard stories from the early days of Frontier Nursing Service (FNS). Students enjoyed learning about the nurses who served the rural population of eastern Kentucky on horseback and were amazed at the fortitude and ingenuity of the early FNS nurses.
Nurse-midwifery (CNEP), Family nurse practitioner (FNP) and women’s healthcare nurse practitioner (WHNP) students met together in small groups to review their curricula, learn about their roles, and develop mission statements for their future practices. Groups came up with inspiring mission statements such as these:
We will be a present force that empowers and educates through service. We will educate families to change and enhance their dynamic for generations to come.
Our mission is to provide holistic quality, evidence-based care, while empowering and educating women and their families across the lifespan. We will create a feeling of community and be fully present during moments of joy and grief, while continuing to remember the mission, values, and legacy of the midwives before us.
One of the most valued sessions was with FNU’s Mary Breckinridge Chair, Kitty Ernst, as she shared the history of the distance education program and highlighted the importance of the three Rs: Relationships, Resilience, and Reflection.
Each day of Frontier Bound began with acknowledgments of the stress and anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and strategies for coping positively. Faculty actively engaged in supporting and meeting students’ needs by allowing extra time to resolve IT issues and offering frequent Q&A sessions. A sense of community was instilled through team-building activities and students left the experience having made friends for life!
Much like they would have at an on-campus Frontier Bound, students concluded their time with reflection and the ringing of a virtual bell signifying the achievement of the first step in their graduate education journey. The bell-ringing echoes Frontier’s history, recalling FNS nurses who were called to action when the bell outside their nursing center was rung.
Initial anxieties expressed by many students were quelled by the time the virtual Frontier Bound wrapped up, and at the conclusion, students reported that they felt the culture of caring in action.
One student said, “Frontier Bound was terrific! The staff and faculty were so engaged and helpful. I was anxious when I heard we were not coming to campus, but you all did a great job of easing our stress and answering all our questions; thank you.”
Another commented, “The staff was great, and most importantly, they expressed their willingness to support us throughout this program. I can honestly say, after this experience, any doubt I may have had is out the window! I can’t wait to become a fantastic nurse-midwife.”
FNU’s commitment to maintaining a culture of caring despite unexpected challenges was proven in the transition to a fully virtual Frontier Bound, and we can’t wait to continue to support students along every step of their journeys. FNU also plans to hold upcoming orientation sessions virtually through June.
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).