At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented community of students, graduates, 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 work with all people, with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities.
Throughout her healthcare career, Jaime Westlund, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CCK, AACC, envisioned a different way to care for patients in her community, one defined by autonomy, connection, and compassion. For Dr. Westlund, that meant practicing without rigid time limits, inflexible schedules, or systems driven more by productivity metrics than patient well-being. Her goal: to deliver care that is human, thoughtful, and truly centered on the individual.
That vision is now a reality with the opening of Westlund Wellness & Care in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Through her own practice, Dr. Westlund provides comprehensive primary care and cardiology services, offering patients in her home community the personalized, relationship-based care she has always believed in.
The opening of Westlund Wellness & Care represents the culmination of more than two decades of experience across a wide range of health care roles. Dr. Westlund’s career began as a Medical Assistant and expanded to positions including DEXA Technician, X-Ray Technician, Phlebotomist, manager, and Registered Nurse. Her work across specialties such as orthopedics, urology, ENT, geriatrics, general surgery, and cardiology provided a strong clinical foundation and a well-rounded perspective on patient care.
Dr. Westlund’s hands-on experience is complemented by both a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Frontier Nursing University (FNU). She earned an MSN with a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty in 2019 and completed the DNP in 2020.
“I chose FNU because I loved the story of Mary Breckinridge and her dedication to her community,” she said.
For Dr. Westlund, becoming an FNP with a DNP was about deepening her ability to deliver informed, patient-centered care that supports the health and well-being of the entire family.
“As a Family Nurse Practitioner, I am family medicine-trained to care for the whole family: babies, keiki (child), adults and kupuna (elders),” she said. “With my advanced training, I can provide everything from routine checkups to managing complex health needs. I like to offer options that fit each person’s lifestyle; often trying alternatives first before medications. That way, your care plan works for you and your ‘ohana’ (family) at every stage of life.”
In addition to primary care, Dr. Westlund has a strong focus on heart health, bringing years of experience in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease within her community. Her expertise has earned her national recognition from the American College of Cardiology, where she holds the designation of Associate of the American College of Cardiology (AACC). She has also successfully completed the Cardiovascular Care Knowledge Examination (CCKE), underscoring her advanced knowledge and commitment to excellence in cardiovascular care.
Dr. Westlund has served the Kona community for the past six years. Having grown up in a rural area, she said she is deeply passionate about improving access to high-quality healthcare for underserved communities.
“I have been honored to serve the Kona community, where it takes creativity and dedication to care for patients with limited resources, and I feel truly blessed to call Kona home,” she said.
Building on her experience and deep commitment to her community, Dr. Westlund opened Westlund Wellness & Care on November 10, 2025. Since opening, the practice has been consistently booked, reflecting the strong need for accessible, patient-centered care in the area.
Westlund Wellness & Care offers a wide range of primary care services, including preventive and wellness care, annual physicals, lifestyle and nutrition counseling, home visits for homebound patients, and more. The practice also provides comprehensive cardiovascular services, from heart health evaluation and prevention and cardiovascular risk assessments to preoperative clearance exams and Holter and event monitoring.
Opening the practice was truly a labor of love. Dr. Westlund and her husband, David, demolished and rebuilt the facility while raising their four children. The couple spent countless hours transforming the space into a warm, welcoming environment that now showcases artwork from local artists. Each piece includes a QR code for purchase, giving artists greater exposure while enhancing the patient experience.
“Creating a warm, welcoming space was so important to me,” Dr. Westlund said. “I want every patient who walks through our doors to feel at home and completely comfortable. Trust and connection start the moment you step inside, and I believe a safe, calming environment is the first step in building that rapport.”
For Dr. Westlund, drawing on her extensive experience to serve her community through her own care philosophy is the realization of a lifelong dream.
“May we all have a dream worth working for,” she said. “And may we be brave enough to pursue it relentlessly, not just for ourselves, but to better our communities.”
Thank you, Jaime, for inspiring others through your dedication to patient-centered care, community service, and the courage to turn a lifelong dream into reality.
To read more graduate stories, visit the FNU Alumni stories page.
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).