At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse 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 deliver quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.
Jade Potter, BSN, RN, IBCLC, PMH-C
With an impressive background in nursing and lactation consulting, FNU student Jade Potter, BSN, RN, IBCLC, PMH-C, has dedicated her career to empowering families during the postpartum period and providing essential healthcare services to underserved populations. Since January 2022, Potter has served a diverse population of patients through her role as a full-time private practice lactation consultant.
A member of the FNU Class 205, Potter is set to graduate in 2024. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and has achieved multiple certifications, including International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional (PMH-C). She’s currently pursuing her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner specialty (WHNP).
Potter’s journey in the healthcare field began at the Lisa Ross Birth and Women’s Center from 2013 to 2015, where she worked as a receptionist, gaining valuable experience in maternal and newborn care. She then moved to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, starting as a registration clerk in the ED/Trauma Center before advancing to roles as a bedside RN in Acute Care Vascular Surgery and Transplant Unit, Antepartum/Postpartum/GYN Oncology, and eventually as a specialist in hospital-based IBCLC.
From 2020 to 2022, Potter further honed her skills as a bedside RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and as a hospital-based IBCLC at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. During her time working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Potter’s dedication and excellence were recognized when she was nominated for a Daisy Award.
Potter started her journey as a lactation consultant in 2001, offering in-home lactation consulting services through Milk+Honey Lactation Services. Her commitment to serving underserved urban communities in her independent practice has been a cornerstone of her career.
Potter’s private practice focuses on supporting families throughout their postpartum journey, often meeting with them weekly. Her approach goes beyond improving breastfeeding outcomes. She places a strong emphasis on postpartum mental health, encouraging self-trust, fostering family bonding, providing information and support for autonomy, and ensuring equal access to lactation care for all members of her community.
“Our patient population is broad, from surgeons, lawyers and academics, to students, fast food workers, homemakers and those in recovery from Substance Use Disorder,” Potter said. “We are the only lactation practice in our region to be granted in-network status with Medicaid in our state, and we are able to bill most major insurance plans. Because of this, we are able to care for individuals from every socioeconomic status.”
Potter’s practice collaborates with the Knoxville Black Doula Collective, contributing to the Knoxville Black Maternal Health Symposium, and soon, will offer Spanish interpretive services. Additionally, they host monthly community breastfeeding classes and open-to-all postpartum support groups. Her commitment to maternal and perinatal mental health is highlighted by her certification through Postpartum Support International as a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional.
For Potter, the motivation to pursue her Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) specialty and master’s degree is deeply rooted in her desire to bridge the gap in postpartum, GYN, and gender-affirming healthcare. She said she has encountered countless individuals who struggle to find competent care tailored to their unique needs. Her goal is to bring about significant changes in her community by providing inclusive and accessible healthcare services for all.
“I’ve encountered thousands of people in their postpartum period who have had to fight to be heard about their mental and physical health,” Potter said. “My sister and other dear friends living with physical disabilities struggle to find providers who can provide competent care for people with limited mobility or disregard their need for empowering sexual healthcare. Countless gender non-conforming individuals in my community have no access to gender-affirming care or hormonal therapies. I want to change all of this in my community.”
Potter said her introduction to midwifery during her first pregnancy sparked her passion for women’s health, and that much of the midwife care she has received came from FNU alumnus. She said her experience at FNU has been exceptional and she said she appreciates the support and understanding she receives from instructors and classmates, especially during challenging times.
“From my advisor, to my RCF, to my instructors, and my classmates, I’ve been very impressed with how interpersonal my graduate education experience has been, especially as distance education,” Potter said. “One of my children has a chronic illness that has been very difficult the last year and my instructors have been incredibly supportive and understanding when I have communicated with them. Frontier has never made me feel like I’m out on an island or an anonymous poster on a discussion board; I feel like I’m part of a community.”
Potter is a mother of three children, a loving wife, and a devoted dog owner. When she finds a moment for herself, she enjoys porch-sitting, reading, sewing, and listening to true crime podcasts.
Thank you, Jade, for your outstanding contributions and commitment to making a difference in healthcare in your community.
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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).