Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is pleased to announce the 2020 Spring Term Circle of Caring Award Winners: staff member Bridgett Lyall and faculty member Joanne Keefe.
The Circle of Caring Award is given each term as a recognition for faculty and staff who go above and beyond their job duties and strive to uphold FNU’s mission and Culture of Caring every day.
Award winners are anonymously nominated by fellow FNU faculty and staff. Nominations are voted upon by a committee based on the following Culture of Caring characteristics: professionalism, mutual support, respect, positive communication and inclusivity.
Staff Winner: Bridgett Lyall
Lyall has spent over six years with FNU, first as a clinical credentialing coordinator, then as the academic records officer, her current position. Lyall loves helping students throughout their time at FNU and as they graduate and move on with their professional careers.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, everyone has had a little bit more on their plates and once again Lyall was there to figure out details and relieve stress for her co-workers, as was described in her recent Circle of Caring nomination:
“In the middle of a pandemic, we’ve all seen kind gestures and thoughtfulness, but Bridgett made a campus-wide announcement that she had made face masks for all. This was within hours of the Kentucky governor announcing that wearing masks would be mandatory. Many masks are for sale in other areas – not in our community. Bridgett freely gave of her time and talent and made a box of masks available for us seemingly without effort! We know, though – it’s a gift from the heart! Thoughtful, purposeful, and oh so timely! Thanks, Bridgett!”
Here is what another co-worker had to say about Lyall’s kindness and strong work ethic:
“I work closely with Bridgett to complete multiple forms and letters needed by students. Bridgett is tireless in her commitment to excellent work and service to the students. Her communication is always thoughtful and professional. Bridgett is a joy to work with and an asset at FNU.”
Faculty Winner: Joanne Keefe, DNP, MPH, FNP-C, CNE
Joanne Keefe is the course coordinator for epidemiology/biostatistics at FNU. Teaching has always come naturally for Dr. Keefe as she has the knowledge and the drive to portray information in a comprehensive way, paired with the compassion and love for the community that keeps students engaged. This year COVID-19 began to surge not long before the spring semester began, putting a lot of new stressors on faculty and students. In response, Dr. Keefe rose to the occasion by opening up new outlets of communication and encouragement for everyone in her circle. Here are some of the things fellow faculty members had to say about Dr. Keefe’s thoughtful efforts during these difficult times:
“Dr. Keefe is an amazing faculty member, a wonderful educator, and an outstanding course coordinator. Most notable is the respect and kindness she consistently demonstrates to the students. She is always patient and answers questions and concerns kindly. Of particular importance this term, Dr. Keefe made special arrangements to create a calm and safe environment for students to facilitate the students’ well being. As this term began in the midst of the COVID pandemic, she made sure to address self-care and self-calming strategies each week in the live class. She also started a Discussion Board where students could write about what was happening and what they were doing to stay safe and mentally secure. In a time where learning could be so disrupted, students have said that they felt calm and cared for and safe. Dr. Keefe is truly a model of caring and epitomizes the FNU Culture of Caring.”
“Dr. Joanne Keefe is the leader of an amazing PC702 teaching team. Under Dr. Keefe’s leadership, the PC702 team did some really amazing things this term to support students and help them to master the course content. Dr. Joanne held open sessions twice a week. She opened a BBB classroom where students could drop in and talk about absolutely anything — the course content, work, the pandemic, the increasing awareness of racism, disparity, and inequity and the accompanying social events. Each week all the faculty attended the BBB classroom and at the start of each class we addressed pandemic-related events, and the social movement related to racism and then asked the students how they were coping. Dr. Keefe also opened a Discussion Board on ‘Self calming and Self-care’ where people posted really helpful things – poems, prayers, songs, yoga sites, meditation practices, and more. It was absolutely lovely and helpful and kind. Finally, Dr. Keefe held weekly meetings with the entire teaching team where we openly talked about students and ourselves. We saw many of the things that students were experiencing and discussed how we were experiencing them too. We supported each other and helped each person get through their work and forgave each other when we were not perfect. Under Dr. Keefe’s leadership, we were enabled to do so much during this difficult term.”
Do you know an FNU staff or faculty member that goes above and beyond? Nominate them now for the Circle of Caring Award!
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).