Twelve years ago, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) dedicated itself to providing yet another outstanding educational program, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). The DNP is the highest degree available for a practicing clinical nurse. It was designed to prepare registered nurses to take their clinical expertise, leadership skills, and nursing career to the next level.
At FNU, the DNP curriculum provides education in evidence-based practice, quality improvement and systems leadership, building on the knowledge acquired during a student’s master’s studies. The DNP program prepares nurses to use their knowledge and clinical expertise to impact the health care of the individual, the community, and the nation.
FNU offers two paths to the DNP degree. One is a Post-Master’s DNP for those who are already certified as nurse-midwives or nurse practitioners and is 30 credit hours. Those who complete a Post-Graduate Certificate at FNU may continue into this program. The second path is for those who enroll in FNU’s Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program and choose to continue working towards their DNP.
We recently had the honor of sitting down with the current DNP program director, Dr. Jane Houston, who answered a few questions on what makes this program so exceptional.
Why do you think it is crucial for those with an MSN practicing as a certified nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner to consider getting their DNP?
With an FNU DNP degree, you will gain the knowledge and education to work within healthcare teams to effectively problem solve patient quality care issues. You will become more employable, and you will work more effectively within your specialty as a clinician leader. Considered the gold standard among nurse practitioner organizations, the DNP degree produces clinical leaders who can serve at the highest level of our professions.
What sets FNU’s DNP program apart from other DNP programs?
We are the ONLY nursing university program that has embedded the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Quality Improvement process into our DNP program. See IHI.org. We have created a comprehensive doctoral plan of study with a tailored curriculum to meet the DNP Essentials, including didactic and clinical courses taught by expert faculty and supported by FNU staff. Review the DNP Essentials to examine how our program has threaded these throughout our plans of study.
What is the Quality Improvement Process that FNU’s DNP students follow, and how does it add value to their future work?
Check out IHI.org and the Digital Depot on the FNU Portal (an online repository that is searchable for all our previous students’ initiatives) to see Quality Improvement changes in action. During the program, you will meet individually with the expert DNP clinical faculty to plan your quality improvement initiatives in detail before you start your clinical project courses. Once you have completed the program, you will examine clinical issues with a new lens that will help you problem-solve in your healthcare setting, with your colleagues. You will become a nurse practitioner or midwifery leader in quality improvement.
How does the DNP help students make more significant impacts on the patients they are serving in their home communities?
Once you are enrolled, you will learn through the DNP didactic and clinical courses how the best clinical evidence can be translated into action through your quality improvement initiatives. You will start to analyze the clinical gaps in care in your home community and learn how to problem-solve and make improvements in patient care. Following that, you will have all the tools to be a more effective leader in your chosen profession.
Where can I find out more information on the admissions process for FNU students?
We have set up detailed web pages on the FNU website that will walk you through the application process step-by-step. These pages hold information on admissions, discussions regarding clinical projects, plans of study, and more; get started here. Or, apply for the DNP companion program here.
We hope you will consider our immersive DNP program as you seek to expand your nursing career. To learn more about this exciting opportunity, visit FNU’s DNP page and follow the blog to see some of the fantastic work by DNP graduates.
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).