Blog

  • Faculty Spotlight: Beki Asti, FNP-BC

    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 that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

     

    Beki Asti knows how to set goals and live them out. She received her undergraduate degree from Carroll College in Wisconsin and went to work as a nurse in the United States Air Force, but her sights were set on eventually becoming a nurse practitioner.

     

    “I always knew that I wanted to be a nurse practitioner,” said Beki. “To accomplish that, I set a goal to go back to school five years after graduating. It passed by faster than I expected, and when the time came, I went to Frontier Nursing University to get my master’s degree.”

     

    Beki went through the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program at FNU, earning her Master of Science in Nursing degree. She found her FNU experience enjoyable and rewarding, and she was impressed by the program’s ability to ease the challenging transition from nurse to advanced practice nurse.

     

    One of Beki’s roles at FNU is Regional Clinical Faculty. In this role she enjoys working with students to make the same transition from nurse to nurse practitioner.

     

    “I’ve been there and I enjoy helping students as they’re going through that change as well.” She spends many hours reading, writing papers, and working on projects. Beki embraces the challenging work as it gives her another means to relate to her students.

     

    Her project focus within her doctoral studies is how to manage obesity in patients with mental illness. She encourages students with interest in this topic to engage in discussion and come to her with questions.

     

    Beki’s nursing career has been full of variety. Her first job after college was in a start-up community clinic where she was the only nurse practitioner.

     

    “Finding where to fit in was challenging, as I first had to educate the physicians on my abilities and scope before I could be a useful addition the team.”

     

    Since then, she has worked on an Army base where her patients were military dependents and active duty. She has also worked in several urgent care clinics. One such clinic was located in Massachusetts, where the clinic saw many primary care issues due to a lack of primary care providers in that area.

     

    Currently, Beki works in Community Mental Health. She also splits her time at FNU between Regional Clinical Faculty for nurse practitioner students and teaching a Principles of Health Promotion course.

     

    Beki’s involvement in the nursing community is widespread and impressive. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She serves as a counselor for FNU’s Chi Pi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, helping with student membership enrollment into the honor society. Beki is also a member of the Michigan Council of Nurse Practitioners.

     

    Beki hopes that through her role at FNU, she can inspire students to follow in her success.

     

    “I want to show students the different settings offered to nurse practitioners as well as the ongoing education that all of us are in pursuit of.”

     

    When she’s not working, Beki loves spending time with her husband and two small children.

  • Alumni Spotlight: Damara Jenkins, CNM

    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 that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

     

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumni Damara Jenkins (Class 48) first stumbled upon nurse-midwifery after contemplating medical school. She quickly discovered that midwifery fit her personal philosophy, and from that point on she wanted to pursue a career as a Certified Nurse-Midwife.

     

    When looking for the right school, Damara was first drawn to Frontier’s distance education program. As a working mother raising four children, the flexibility offered by FNU was an attractive option. She also had family ties that made FNU appealing. Damara’s grandfather was a surgeon who had volunteered with the Frontier Nursing Service.

     

    Most importantly, Damara felt that her personal passion and goals closely aligned with Frontier’s long-standing mission to serve rural and underserved communities.

     

    “My goal was not just to produce more nurse-midwives in Kentucky, but also to focus on serving women in my local community,” said Damara.

     

    She first practiced as a CNM in July 2011 at Woman Care in Indiana. Many of her patients traveled from Louisville, Ky., to see her because they couldn’t find nurse-midwives with hospital privileges in the Louisville area. Over time, that changed. In November 2014, Damara accepted a position in the Division of Midwifery at the University of Louisville, Center for Women and Infants.

     

    In this role, Damara serves women from Louisville and surrounding areas with diverse economic and educational backgrounds. The Center recently hired two additional nurse-midwives to support the demand for the midwifery model of care.  

     

    “One of the nice things about working in the hospital setting is that I have the opportunity to teach not only nurse-midwives or nurse practitioner students, but also medical students,” said Damara.

     

    According to Damara, she is pleased to see a steady increase of deliveries since arriving to the Center.

     

    Damara is not only carrying out the Frontier mission by providing midwifery care through her regular job duties, but she is also serving as a preceptor for FNU nurse-midwifery students. In addition, she is involved in a local group that is trying to establish a birth center in Louisville. Being a part of the “Friends of the Birth Center” group is a first step to increasing birthing options for women in the area.

     

    “I love my job,” said Damara. “Yes, it’s difficult and you have to have the flexibility to change your plans at any given moment, but it is so rewarding being in a position to witness women’s strength. It’s also amazing just being a part of the midwifery community and connecting with people from all over the world as we support and learn from one another.”

     

    Visit this link to see Damara featured in a news segment on WDRB 41 in Louisville.

     

    Visit this link to see Damara featured on WHAS 11 Great Day Live!

  • Staff Spotlight: Laura Davis

    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 that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
     

    Laura Davis, Controller for Frontier Nursing University (FNU), earned her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Kentucky and went on to receive her Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification. She also has a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma from Villanova University. For the past two years, she has managed the daily operations of accounting at FNU.

     

    Laura manages a team of five associates and is mentored by Michael Steinmetz, VP of Finance. Her team operates the daily procedures of payroll, accounts payable, student accounting, financial reporting, charitable registrations, and management of funds related to grants and donations. Laura is also responsible for coordinating the annual audit of FNU’s financial statements.

     

    Laura’s Six Sigma certification is put to good use among her accounting team members. Six Sigma is a set of techniques that seeks to improve efficiency and quality of output by identifying the causes of defects and variability in daily processes and improving them. Originally, this method was created and implemented for the manufacturing sector, but Six Sigma can be applied to any industry, including accounting.

     

    “We try to create an environment in which we are all encouraged to improve an aspect of our process each day to serve the community at large,” said Laura. “Our team flourishes in this environment, which makes us feel empowered as individuals and creates a spirit of teamwork.”

     

    As she had always enjoyed her experiences with higher education, Laura chose FNU for the chance to be an active participant in it.

     

    “I loved the idea of working in a growing and innovative environment that supports the health of families,” said Laura.

     

    Laura’s favorite part of being at FNU is being part of a culture of creativity and learning. Outside of her work as Controller, Laura and her husband also own a needlepoint company that creates wholesale designs for stores around the country, as well as a retail segment with customers in 45 states. She stays active, frequently competing in races, and is involved in Boston Terrier rescue with three dogs of her own. Laura also has a travel agent license and cruises every chance she gets!

    Thank you for your commitment to improvement at FNU, Laura.           

  • 2016 American Association of Birth Centers Birth Institute Recap

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) faculty, alumni, students, staff and preceptors along with over 150 registered participants traveled to Pittsburgh, Pa., Sept. 22 – 25 for the 2016 American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) Birth Institute. The conference was held at the Omni William Penn Hotel and and offered great networking and educational opportunities for attendees.

     

    ANNUAL RECEPTION

     

    FNU hosted its annual reception at the conference on the evening of Thursday, September 22. More than 50 members of the FNU community attended the reception, which included light appetizers and fellowship in celebration of Kitty Ernst’s 90th birthday. Dr. Susan Stone welcomed everyone and gave updates on the launch of FNU’s new Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, the 2016 Digital Summit as well as the Kitty Ernst Midwifery Chair opportunity. Dr. Tonya Nicholson also awarded several preceptors with tokens of appreciation, including Maureen Darcy, Jackie Griggs, Ava Miller and Jami Hain.

     

    FNU EXHIBIT BOOTH

     

    The FNU exhibit booth was very interactive this year as FNU hosted a photo booth in celebration of Kitty Ernst’s 90th birthday. Attendees were invited to dress up and share their photo with the hashtag #KittyTurns90 to be entered to win exclusive FNU prizes. Kitty was gracious enough to sit in the FNU photo booth, which created a large line of attendees hoping to get a photo with Kitty. FNU also created a lot of excitement as they introduced the new Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program to attendees.

     

    STUDENT AMBASSADORS

    FNU’s diversity PRIDE program invites students each year to submit essays for a chance to represent the university at the AABC Birth Institute. PRIDE ambassador Javonne Woodland won this year and participated in clinical activities and sessions, attended the FNU reception, and assisted at the FNU exhibit booth.

     

    Click here to view photos from the 2016 AABC Birth Institute.

  • FNU Celebrates National Midwifery Week

    It’s finally that time of the year again! Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is excited to be celebrating National Midwifery Week (October 2-8, 2016). Whether you are a midwife, know a midwife, or want to know more about midwifery, this week is for you. National Midwifery Week was created by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) to celebrate midwives and midwife-led care.

     

    Of course, this is a monumental week for the family and friends of FNU. We have filled the week with all sorts of activities and events to celebrate the occasion. Here’s just two ways you can get involved:

     

    • Tune in to our 2016 Digital Summit. The “Let Our Stories Move You to Answer the Call” virtual event is going on right now! Explore the experiences and stories of Certified Nurse-Midwives who are passionate leaders committed to better care for women and families. Go here for more information.

     

    • Share YOUR story. As part of our Digital Summit, we are looking for stories about Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM). Are you a CNM? Is your health care provider a CNM? What compelling stories do you have about your experience? We want to hear them and share them with our Frontier Nursing University community as part of our celebration! Find out how here.

     

    FNU is passionate about educating nurse-midwives to serve women and families in all communities, especially rural and underserved areas.

    To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, visit us here.

  • FNU’s Digital Summit Starts October 1!

    Frontier Nursing University’s Digital Summit dedicated to nurse-midwifery starts this weekend! From October 1-7, the “Let Our Stories Move You to Answer the Call” virtual event will explore the experiences and stories of Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) who are passionate leaders committed to better care for women and families.

     

    The Digital Summit is one of the ways we are celebrating National Midwifery Week. Here’s a sneak peak into a few of our sessions:

     

    Go here for a full list of sessions. All sessions are free and easy to join at Frontier.edu/MidwiferyWeek. Here’s how to participate:

     

    1. Visit Frontier.edu/MidwiferyWeek
    2. Click on “Session Schedule” in the upper right corner of the page.
    3. Scroll through the session schedule and click on the session you’d like to join.
    4. At the scheduled date and time, click on the video or follow the instructions within the session page to begin.

     

    Tip: If you’d like to plan ahead, each session page has an option to add session information to your calendar. Scroll to the bottom of the session page and look for the Google Calendar and iCal Export buttons.

     

    To learn more about FNU’s distance education programs and degrees, visit us here.

  • Staff Spotlight: Lesia Holder

    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 that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

     

    Lesia Holder has always worked in higher education and looked specifically for institutions with a unique history and mission. When she heard about the academic advisor position open at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) she knew it would be a great fit.

     

    Working at Frontier for the past two years now, Lesia loves sharing in the common mission of reaching rural and underserved communities. As an academic advisor, she helps students navigate academic programs and university processes, with a goal of making their FNU journey a little easier.

     

    “I hope that my students feel supported and reassured by having someone in their corner from start to finish,” said Lesia. “I truly enjoy meeting with them each term to see how they’re doing and help them make steady progress toward graduation. I also love hearing about their families, road trips and work adventures. The FNU community is great at building good relationships, even when you are 1,000 miles away!”

     

    Lesia’s favorite part of working at FNU is sharing in the victories of her students, small and large.

     

    “When a student emails me that they passed an exam they were worried about, or thanks me for listening to them unravel for a few minutes, I feel like I’m doing good work.”

     

    According to Lesia, she can often sympathize with her students’ workload struggles because she spent a number of years balancing work, motherhood and graduate school.  Lesia has completed two years toward her Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Kentucky, and already holds a Master of Arts in French Literature and a Bachelor of Arts in French.

     

    Lesia has two sons who are 12 and 8, and a daughter who is 5. According to Lesia, the family is always in transition so there is never a dull moment. Her oldest just survived his first year of middle school, and now she has a new kindergartner this fall. Spending time with her children is Lesia’s biggest joy, but she also loves to read, cook and decorate.

    Thanks for all that you do to help our FNU students, Lesia!

  • Alumni Spotlight: Julie Paul, CNM, DNP

    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 that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

     

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumna Dr. Julie Paul graduated from CNEP class 42 (2006) and returned to earn a DNP in Class 4 (2011). She has worked in a large midwifery practice since 2006 at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., and serves there as the co-director of a certified nurse-midwife hospitalist program.

     

    Julie has led the creation of a unique and innovative early labor management (ELM) program. A centerpiece of the program will be an early labor lounge—the only one of its kind in the U.S. The quality improvement (QI) program was initiated by certified nurse-midwives, nurses and physicians at South Shore Hospital and is supported by the chief medical officer, chief nursing officer and obstetrics chief in their hospital.  

     

    When developing the ELM program, Julie worked with the chief and many  nurses from the hospital’s obstetrics unit, midwifery colleagues, nursing administration and FNU co-faculty member Susan Yount. The project originally was meant to be a local project to promote spontaneous progress in labor, using standardized procedures, in order to reduce the numbers of women having Cesarean sections.

     

    Julie’s “brainchild” design for an early labor lounge, created in collaboration with hospital colleagues, enables women to progress through a sequence of interactive “stations” during early labor. The lounge is an alternative to the sort of waiting room that women typically encounter in hospital labor and delivery units. Activities in the lounge are intended to delay admission to the birthing unit until active labor is established by reducing  stress and providing education and support in early labor.  For instance, an acupressure station helps mothers with back pain while in labor, while a couch with a meditation CD helps with anxiety.

     

    Already the South Shore NTSV cesarean birth rates have decreased from approximately 33% to a current rate of 23-25%—as the number of midwifery births has increased and women are given longer times to labor before diagnosing labor dystocia. South Shore delivers about 3,500 babies a year, with 60-80 of those births attended by nurse-midwives—more than double the 30 births in 2012.  

     

    The South Shore ELM team presented a workshop at the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) annual conference in 2016. Julie and her colleagues creatively developed a unique program that aligns with the national ACNM QI Reducing Primary Cesarean (RPC) initiative. They submitted a letter of intent to a multi-site ACNM QI initiative and were chosen to be part of the ACNM Reducing Primary Cesarean Collaborative; a data-driven quality improvement collaborative.

     

    Quickening, a quarterly journal of ACNM, will feature an article on the early labor lounge this fall. Julie’s collaborative team will monitor the results of the mothers’ participation in the education program and early labor lounge over the course of this next year. Inclusion in the ACNM QI program takes their local project to a national arena. The development of this project is a perfect example of how  nurse-midwives are change agents in the health care arena.

    We are proud to have FNU alumni like Julie who are making a difference!

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