At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, 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 deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
Graduates of FNU can be found worldwide, making significant contributions to patient care wherever they go. This was recently made apparent to Sherry Call, MSN CNM ARNP, an FNU graduate who earned her MSN in Nurse-Midwifery in 2022.
In January, Call had a unique opportunity to connect with fellow FNU graduates during a trip to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, for the grand opening of the Nursing and Midwifery Development Centre (NMDC). This charitable organization is dedicated to advancing nursing and midwifery in the Middle East through continuing professional development activities, projects, research, advocacy, and advisory services. NMDC provides resources for nurses, midwives, educators, managers, and students, alongside development projects and research initiatives.
In addition to attending the grand opening of the facility, Call spent time with FNU alumni during the first-ever International Nursing and Midwifery Conference in Iraq. The event was organized in partnership with NMDC, the College of Nursing/Hawler Medical University, TIU, and the Ministry of Health. Bringing regional and international nurses and midwives together, the main objective of the conference was to improve healthcare through the development of nursing and midwifery professions.
During the conference, Call co-facilitated a class on Respectful Communication in Midwifery with fellow FNU graduate Camille Hatton, who graduated in 2015. Hatton and her family have been living in Kurdistan for the past six years, and she is now working at the NMDC to provide training to nurses and midwives in the region. Joining them in the class was Steffaney Thomas, another FNU graduate who has worked in Kurdistan since moving there after her graduation in 2020.
Back in the U.S., Call serves as a CNM at Desert Sky Women’s Healthcare in her home community of Kennewick, Washington, providing obstetrical and gynecological care. She has extensive experience teaching Childbirth Education Classes, working on the OB floor as a Labor, Delivery, Recovery, and Postpartum nurse, and working in an outpatient women’s clinic as a nurse.
Reflecting on her time spent with fellow FNU graduates in Kurdistan, Call believes that their interactions exemplify the global impact FNU has on healthcare.
“I thought it was pretty cool to meet two fellow alumni halfway around the world,” she said. “I think it speaks well for Frontier. It is providing training to women who really want to make a difference in the world.”
Thank you, Sherry, for exemplifying the spirit of FNU by making a difference not only in your local community but also in communities thousands of miles away.
To read more alumni stories, visit the FNU Alumni stories page.
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