Are you nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner interested in serving patients at a higher level? Do you have a desire to influence the broader healthcare system? Do you thrive in an academic environment? If the answer is yes, consider obtaining your Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).
The DNP is the highest degree for clinical nursing practice. Not only do nurses that obtain their doctorate have more opportunities to lead and work as independent healthcare providers, but they also take an active role in shaping the future of healthcare in our nation.
Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) DNP curriculum provides education in evidence-based practice, quality improvement and systems leadership, building on the knowledge acquired during master’s level studies. The DNP program draws on the clinical expertise of our world-renowned faculty and students to prepare nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to impact the health care of women and families on a community, regional and national level.
Have you been considering enrolling in a DNP program? Here are some reasons why we think you should, and why FNU is the perfect place to earn your degree.
Advance Your Career
An obvious reason for obtaining a DNP is to take your nursing career to the highest level. Because of the increasing complexity of healthcare, many healthcare programs across the United States now require a DNP for entry into advanced practice roles. FNU’s DNP program is designed to prepare advanced practice nurses with the necessary credentials to move into these roles.
“The DNP is important to my career advancement because it takes the political, educational and managerial branches of nursing that are very important to the advancement of the profession, cultivates them and takes me to the next step,” said FNU faculty member and alumnus Brian Webster, DNP, APRN-NP, NP-C, CEN, CPEN, FAWM.
Increase Your Leadership
FNU has an excellent reputation for preparing leaders who are firmly rooted in evidence-based practice. The DNP curriculum is designed to prepare advanced practice nurses to be leaders and change agents in the healthcare system.
“The DNP program is pushing me to become a better leader,” said DNP student Kamil El, CNM. “I’m used to staying in the background and putting my head down, but I’m being challenged to engage more on a political stage and with stakeholders in my community to make sure my patients get the kind of care they deserve.”
FNU graduates are driving innovations in healthcare and impacting their communities in incredible ways.
“Frontier has a rich history of encouraging nurses to initiate change and improve health care. Students will assess health care needs within their own health care system and translate evidence into practice using quality improvement initiatives,” said DNP program director Jane Houston, DNP, CNM, FACNM.
Communication is a major focus of FNU’s educational model. In many instances, improving healthcare outcomes boils down to improving communication, and FNU DNP alumni exit the program prepared to implement strong communication tools into their practices. Alumna Rachel Simmons, DNP, WHNP ultimately went with FNU as her doctorate program of choice because of the fine communication skills of a coworker who was an FNU DNP alumna.
“I noticed that this nurse practitioner seemed more prepared in terms of her skills and knowledge as compared to many other FNPs in the company. She had excellent communication skills and exuded confidence with minority patients,” said Rachel.
Guide the Next Generation
Nursing schools are facing a shortage of available faculty. With qualified nursing educators desperately needed in academia, completing a DNP degree can open doors to pursuing a career as faculty.
After completing her DNP at FNU, alumna Mary Ellen Biggerstaff, DNP, MSN stepped into a role as regional clinical faculty where she has found a passion for helping students following in her footsteps.
“I train people to be excellent nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners, especially to rural and vulnerable populations,” she said. “I love to see students I mentored impacting their communities.”
Join the FNU Community
Being a part of the FNU community opens students up to a wide network of FNU alumni across the country. While DNP courses are exclusively online, students will attend a three-day on-campus orientation at our Kentucky campus to kickstart the program. Students will have the opportunity to meet their deans, professors and colleagues they will be in communication with throughout the program and even after graduation.
As an alumnus of FNU, you will have access to many wonderful ways to keep in touch with friends and stay connected to FNU, including reunions, conference receptions, case days and eNews.
Want to learn more about FNU’s DNP program? Visit Frontier.edu/DNP to view the curriculum, request information and apply.
If you are interested in becoming a Certified Nurse-Midwife, Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner or Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner and earning a MSN and then a DNP, consider FNU’s MSN program which allows you to continue into the DNP program.
Read Kamil’s story and many others in our FNU blog, and watch FNU alumni explain the importance of the DNP below!
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).