National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, honors the contributions of Hispanic Americans to U.S. history, culture, and achievements. At Frontier Nursing University (FNU), these contributions are exemplified by Hispanic students like Emily Chavez. A clinical midwifery student based in New Jersey, Chavez recently helped a laboring Guatemalan patient successfully deliver vaginally after it was recommended that she undergo a cesarean section. Chavez used her ability to speak Spanish and her budding midwifery expertise to guide the patient through a successful labor and birth. The patient was deeply grateful that Chavez stepped in and that she could connect with her in her own language. It was also empowering for Chavez as a student midwife to witness the powerful effects of her attentive and attuned care. This story highlights the importance of Hispanic representation in nursing and midwifery.
Understanding the need for more Hispanic nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners, Frontier recently started a Latino/a Students in Nursing group, supported by faculty advisors Dr. Heidi Loomis and Dr. Niessa Meier. Student Interest Groups (SIGs) offer spaces for various student identities, including LGBTQIA+ Students, Men in Nursing, Military/Veterans, International Students, Neurodivergent Students and Students of Color. These groups, facilitated by faculty but driven by students, provide safe environments for open discussion.
Dr. Loomis, having gained extensive experience living and working in Spanish-speaking countries such as Chile and Guatemala, as well as with Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S., said she is eager to support the success of Latino/a students at FNU.
“We know that learning is improved when students feel connected and have a sense of belonging; I’d like to support that winning story at FNU,” she said.
Meetings for the SIG take place on Zoom on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 1 to 2 p.m. EST. During the meetings, students share stories with each other about their own learning and life experiences and invite outside speakers to present on topics of interest to the group, Dr. Loomis said. The group has also discussed celebrating the SIG at graduation, which bright colors to choose for sarapes, and how they might extend the reach of the group to others.
In a recent meeting, Dr. Loomis shared some of the results of her recent research, “Midwifery Students’ Experiences of Bias in the Clinical Setting,” including some selected comments from participants, reporting of bias, to whom to turn for support, and ways for students to advocate for themselves and others.
For FNU student Dilcia Diaz, her experience with the SIG has been rewarding, noting that she appreciates the opportunity to connect with others who share similar Hispanic backgrounds, finding motivation and confidence in being part of a community that understands her journey.
“As a Hispanic born in Mexico and raised in Texas, it has been a challenge to be where I am now in graduate school. Having a support group that understands your situations or having similarities with others gives me more motivation and confidence to keep going,” Diaz said.
Dr. Loomis said while the SIG is student-led and ultimately shaped by their choices, her hope is that it becomes a space where Latino/a students can connect, feel at home, and find support. She said the SIG is an excellent example of how FNU offers creative ways for students to be seen and valued so that they may succeed personally and academically.
“The creation of the Student Interest Groups offers an additional ‘welcome’ to students of various identities to be known and connected,” she said. “We need students of all identities and backgrounds to succeed in their professional aspirations so that all of our communities across the country and world may be best served.”
Those interested in joining or learning more about the Latino/a Student Interest Group can contact Dr. Loomis at heidi.loomis@frontier.edu or Dr. Meier at niessa.meier@frontier.edu. To learn more about Student Interest Groups at FNU, click here.
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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).