At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community who 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.
Frontier Nursing University graduate Jennifer Baxter, MSN, CNM, NP-C, APRN-FPA, has built a career rooted in both compassionate care and lifelong learning.
Baxter earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a specialty in Nurse-Midwifery from FNU, and later expanded her expertise by earning Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) post-graduate certificates through the university.
Today, Baxter serves her home community of Aurora, Illinois, as a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) with Rush Copley Medical Group Midwifery. For the past seven years, she has worked alongside a team of dedicated CNMs to provide comprehensive gynecological and obstetrical care to women of all ages. The practice emphasizes interactive, relationship-centered care, where practitioners take time to get to know each patient and understand their unique health needs.
“I try to give my patients several options,” she said. “I present them with information and let them choose which way they would like to proceed. For instance, if you are coming to midwifery because you want a water birth, great! If you are coming to midwifery because your friend told you we were nice and you want an epidural, also great! I really like to get to know my patients personally.”
The team’s areas of care include gynecological exams; menopause management; pregnancy and prenatal care; routine and annual exams; family planning and preconception counseling; and individualized and alternative births, including waterbirths.
In a testament to FNU’s lasting impact, both of Baxter’s partners at Rush Copley Medical Group Midwifery, Rebekah Hernandez and Stephanie Miller, are also FNU graduates, creating a team united by shared values and a common educational foundation.
“I feel like Frontier emphasized looking at the evidence,” Baxter said. “I like working with a team that truly practices evidence-based care.”
Baxter said her path to midwifery was inspired by her childhood.
“I am the oldest of eight children,” she said. “It seemed like my mom was always pregnant! It was so fascinating to me. I wanted to be an OB/GYN doctor, but I also really wanted to get married and have kids of my own. Since medical school and residency would be so long, I decided instead to be a nurse, like my mom. In my OB nursing class, I learned about nurse-midwifery and knew immediately that was what I was going to do.”
When choosing to pursue FNU for her education, Baxter recalls a serendipitous connection.
“One year after I became a nurse, I had my first baby. She was delivered by a Frontier grad,” she said. “She asked me if she could attend my birth and I told her she could only if she would get me information about her school. ”
Baxter said upon enrolling at FNU in 2001, she was initially skeptical of the distance learning model but quickly had a change of heart.
“I thought this distance learning thing wouldn’t actually be as good as a regular university, but with three babies, that was the only way it would be possible for me,” she said. “Boy was I wrong! It turned out that Frontier was the best school experience I had ever had.”
Baxter pursued her WHNP post-graduate certificate immediately after earning her CNM. She said when she made the decision to pursue her FNP post-graduate certificate in 2014, she was more than confident in enrolling at FNU once again.
“I didn’t even explore schools, I went right back to Frontier,” she said. “I knew I would get another great education. Currently, I am working only as a nurse-midwife, but I am very thankful that I have my FNP because as I get older, night shifts as a midwife are getting more difficult. With the FNP certificate, I will have many options available when I decide to stop doing deliveries.”
Beyond her clinical work, Baxter is helping to shape the next generation of healthcare professionals by serving as a preceptor. So far, she has precepted two FNU students, including a new certified nurse-midwife from Class 208. She said she teaches her students the essentials of quality care, from thorough exams and careful charting to giving patients options, asking questions, staying calm in emergencies, building strong relationships, collaborating with staff, and enjoying the work.
“I think the world needs more great advanced practice nurses,” she said. “I like precepting so I can show my students what it takes to be that APRN. This work can be exhausting, but you will never regret it!”
Thank you, Jennifer, for embodying the mission of FNU graduates through dedicated service to your community and by passing on your knowledge and passion for patient-centered care.
To read more graduate stories, visit the FNU Alumni page on our blog.
