The inspirational success stories of FNU graduates are many. Very few, however, start with dropping out of high school. Nonetheless, that is the way the story of how Patty Coldiron, MSN, FNP, Bridge 102, opened Hometown Urgent Care in January begins. 
Born and raised in rural Harlan County, Kentucky, Coldiron dropped out of high school and, at the age of 16, gave birth to her son Joshua, who was born with spina bifida.
“He is the reason I went into nursing,” Coldiron said. “I wanted to know everything I could medically to be able to help him. Having knowledge in the field of nursing allowed me to help him physically and mentally, giving him the mindset he can do everything everyone else does, just a little differently.”
Three years after Joshua’s birth, Coldiron went back to school and earned her GED. At 25, she began working as a Certified Nursing Assistant and worked for four years before being laid off. Undeterred, she kept moving forward.
“I went to my local Community Action Agency and applied for the displaced worker’s program,” Coldiron said. “I was accepted and through that program, I received my licensed practical nurse degree. When the local community college bought the technical college, they came to me and asked if I would sign up for their Registered Nurse program.”
In 2003, she graduated from Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College with an associate’s degree in nursing. She worked in several areas, including on the medical/surgical floor and the ER, but her primary area was home health. With her career and goals coming into focus, Coldiron joined two of her friends in applying to FNU.
“We all three were accepted, but I was the only one who decided to follow through,” said Coldiron, who graduated in 2015.
During her last term, Joshua was in a motor vehicle accident and spent nearly a month in the ICU.
“The days I had to work my mom (Pauline Boggs) would stay with him,” Coldiron said. “I sat in the hospital with him and would try to study and get ready for my boards. With the help of family and God, I finished and he eventually came home, but never the same. The knowledge I had from going to Frontier, without a doubt helped me care for him again, and let me keep him 14 more months after the accident.”
Joshua passed away on May 31, 2016.
“He was the kindest, gentle, humble person you would ever meet,” Coldiron said. “He was wheelchair dependent but that didn’t stop him. He was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to ride his ATV to hunt. He also loved to fish. He drove independently with gears fixed onto his car. He worked as a night watchman and in a factory making apparel for the armed forces. He lived a normal life.”
Patty’s other son, Kacy, has a master’s degree in Occupational Safety and works in Atlanta. He and his wife Kendra have a son, Emmerich.
Dealing with boards and Joshua’s passing, Coldiron pressed on. She worked at a local hospital as a family nurse-practitioner until, in April 2020, she was one of many to be laid off due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. She began working for a private-owned urgent care provider and had to travel for work. That was the turning point.
“The latter part of 2020 I decided if I am ever going to start my business now is the time,” Coldiron said. “I asked medical assistant Katie Pierce if she would help me. She jumped in and got the insurance and providers credentialed. We opened Hometown Urgent Care in Harlan County on January 4, 2021.”
Not only was opening her own practice what Coldiron needed, but it was also what the community needed as well.
“In Harlan, there is the emergency room and primary care offices,” Coldiron said. “I knew from working the ER there was a need for urgent care. My community had never had an urgent care medical center.”
Proof of that need was seen immediately. In the first five months of being open, Hometown Urgent Care has had more than 1,000 patients. The clinic employs two receptionists, three medical assistants, three nurse practitioners, and the office administrator. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to be accessible to working families.
“The community has welcomed us with open arms,” Coldiron said. “Parents who work and struggle to get their children or themselves to a primary care provider are grateful for health care in hours that will work for them.”
Coldiron knows that there are other communities like Harlan in need of an urgent care facility and intends to help fill that void in the future.
“My goal is to open more Hometown Urgent Care clinics in other rural areas that have a need for this sort of clinic and are having to utilize the emergency rooms for minor and urgent illness, especially after hours,” she said.
Coldiron’s drive and determination are apparent. With every setback, she seems to respond with even more resolve than ever. While that certainly comes from within, she credits FNU with developing her skills and preparing her to provide the care her community needs.
“Frontier Nursing University gave me the knowledge to make a profound impact in health care from pediatrics all the way to geriatrics,” she said. “Frontier taught me through the program experience, didactic course, and clinical skills, to be above standard. Frontier not only gave me knowledge, but they also gave me confidence in the assessment, diagnosis, and delivery of treatment.”
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).