Blog

  • FNU Celebrates National Nurses Week 2016

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is excited to celebrate National Nurses Week 2016! The celebration begins tomorrow, May 6, and will continue through Thursday, May 12. The week is presented by the American Nurses Association (ANA) to recognize nurses working in the many fields of the health care profession.

     

    FNU will be taking part by posting a variety of content and holding a few fun contests via social media. Be sure to keep up to date with the FNU Facebook and Twitter pages to participate! Winners will receive prizes.

     

    The ANA will also be offering a free webinar titled Culturally Congruent Care: Why Diversity Makes a Difference, on Tuesday, May 10 from 1 – 2 p.m. EST. During this 60-minute exclusive live event, the ANA will outline how you can provide culturally congruent care; reflect on understanding the values and beliefs you bring to your patient-nurse relationship; and identify knowledge, skills, and evidence-based tools you need to support culturally congruent care in your nursing environment.

     

    For more information on the webinar or to register, go here.

     

    The ANA is hosting its own social media contest during National Nurses Week. To participate, flood your Twitter and Instagram timelines with pictures, videos and quotes using the hashtag #SafeNursesRock. Find out more information here.

    FNU thanks all the nurses that work hard daily to deliver quality health care to their patients!

  • FNU Mother’s Day Giving Campaign

     

    Mother’s Day is an important holiday to the Frontier Nursing University community. Our mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality care has persevered for decades. With thousands of FNU nurse-midwives providing compassionate maternity care around the globe, mothers and babies continue to be a core focus.

     

    We have a number of generous supporters of our mission that we are forever thankful for. However, we still need help. This year as we celebrate Mother’s Day, we are offering friends and family of FNU the opportunity to support Frontier with a special gift to the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery.

     

    When Kitty graduated from the Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery in 1951 and was handed her certificate by Mary Breckinridge, she was instructed to,“Go forth my child and serve mothers and babies.”  She did just that, and we will now honor her life’s work by endowing a faculty position in her honor.  The Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery will serve countless mothers and babies into the future.

     

    This special Mother’s Day campaign also offers an opportunity to honor other special women in your life.  Simply make your gift today and we will send your honoree a special Mother’s Day card indicating your gift in her honor. We will also wish Happy Mother’s Day to each wonderful woman on Facebook.  All who donate $1,000 or more will also receive a special commemorative pin to show your commitment to the future of nurse-midwifery.

     

    Please join us in honoring the legacy of this amazing woman and special women in your life by making your tax-deductible donation to the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery today.

     

    Honor a special woman in your life and support the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery: visit https://frontier.edu/mothersday.

     

    View the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery Video.

  • FNU Traditions: Building a Community, Part 3

    Bridge Traditions

     

    With roots tracing back to the early 1900s, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is a school rich in history. The “FNU Traditions” blog series will give the friends and family of FNU a greater understanding of our many traditions, several of which date back to the days of our founder, Mary Breckinridge.

     

    Our last two blogs in this series have explored our faculty-led and student-led  traditions on campus and around Wendover dinners during Bound sessions. But did you know that our Bridge students participate in their own set of traditions?

     

    The FNU Bridge Entry Option is created for the registered nurse who has the desire to become a certified nurse-midwife or family nurse practitioner and has an associate’s degree as the highest degree earned. The Bridge Entry Option coursework is completed in one year in an intensive, accelerated format that bridges the gap from the associate’s degree content to meet the requirements of The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice.  Upon completion of the Bridge year, the student is prepared for the rigors of the graduate program. For more information about the Bridge Entry Option, please visit our webpage.  

     

    Students complete the Bridge coursework as a cohort. As a result, many traditions have become part of the Bridge year. Here are just a few traditions specific to our Bridge students:

     

    Structured Mentoring Program: The most unique feature of the Bridge program is its structured mentoring program. When students come to Bridge Bound, the initial welcome into the FNU community prior to classes beginning, they are matched with a mentor. Mentors are Bridge students on campus for Crossing the Bridge, the final intensive, on-campus session before students move on to their clinical speciality coursework in the graduate program.

     

    As Crossing students are completing their Bridge year, they are able to begin walking with Bridge Bound students as they take their first steps into the Bridge journey. Some mentoring groups bring goody bags for their mentees, with small items symbolizing aspects of their journey that provide encouragement, humor, and even tears. Mentors remain connected with their mentees after Bridge Bound in a variety of ways, whether by phone, email, or Facebook groups. Whenever Bridge students have questions or need advice, they know they have someone to lean on who has been through the process.

     

    Class Mascot: Over the years, the mentoring program has evolved into a very personal and vital part of the Bridge experience. Another tradition that is important to Bridge students is the class mascot. The mascots are chosen because of the symbolism they represent for the students. For example, one group chose an elephant as their mascot to symbolize the old proverb when things begin to feel overwhelming: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

     

    A number of Bridge classes use their mascot to create a Facebook group that allows students to stay connected to their mentors. The mascot helps create a team bond as the students go through their courses, remembering they have others to lean on. This structure has encouraged many students to stay connected, often long after their time at FNU is over.

     

    Crossing the Bridge: When students return to campus for Crossing the Bridge, they can expect to take part in a long-time tradition involving the old swinging bridge at Wendover. Years ago, students would actually cross the bridge as a symbol of their next step into their clinical specialty coursework. For safety reasons, students now line up in front of the bridge for a photo, followed by circle-up time and a final reflection. During the circle-up, students are reminded of the symbolism of the bridge and the history of the bridges that were once used for Frontier Nursing Service nurse-midwives to reach women in the mountains and hollers.

     

    Stay tuned for a blog featuring our student’s take on FNU traditions!

     

    Related Content:

    FNU Traditions: Building a Community, Part 1

    Campus and Wendover Dinners

     

    FNU Traditions: Building a Community, Part 2

    Student-Led Traditions

  • Student Spotlight: Essence Williams

    At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of, 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.

     

    Essence Williams’ midwifery journey began 13 years ago when she was an undergraduate at Haverford College completing a semester abroad at the University of the West Indies in St. Michael Barbados. She took a course in women’s studies and her final project was on nurse-midwifery.

     

    The instructor was so intrigued by Essence’s passion for the project that she connected her with the Barbados Nurses Association Midwives Group. After meeting the Bajan nurse-midwives, Essence interned with them at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados. She had the opportunity to shadow a home birth midwife in a rural area and work on her ethnographic research for her senior thesis.

     

    Essence had an incredible experience abroad working with traditional midwives. “I learned about their physiologic birth practices and postpartum rituals, herbal remedies and the hands-on personal care and support that they provided for women and their families,” she shared. “Studying abroad with the midwives literally transformed my whole outlook on women’s health care. At that point, I knew I had found my calling. When I returned to the states, I knew I needed to do whatever it took to become a midwife. I have been working, interning, volunteering and studying in the field of maternity since that time.”

     

    Another reason Essence wanted to become a nurse-midwife was to preserve a family tradition. Her great-grandmother was a granny midwife. She was one of the only black midwives in Dade County, Florida, and delivered more than 500 babies in the 1930s and 1940s. She passed away before Essence was born, but her legacy as a holistic midwife, good mother, wife, advisor, spiritual leader and healer lives on.

     

    “My great-grandmother will always be my inspiration, and I know her spirit continues to watch over me throughout my midwifery journey,” said Essence. “I am not only pursuing a career in midwifery because it’s my calling and my passion, but I am also doing it to make my family proud …and keep the legacy of midwifery alive in my family.”

     

    Today, in addition to being an FNU student, Essence provides public health nursing services in the Philadelphia area to first-time pregnant women and their families who are enrolled in the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) Program affiliated with National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC)
. Most of her clients are 15 to 42 years of age, and many come from vulnerable populations in underserved communities and are underinsured or uninsured with limited access to prenatal care options, resources and services.

     

    “Part of my job as a public health nurse is to provide education, support and advocacy by helping my clients access resources in the community that can better serve their needs during pregnancy and during the postpartum period,” said Essence.

     

    Essence conducts home visits with women and their children until the child reaches two years of age. 
Additionally, she teaches maternal-child health maintenance & safety, parenting & life skills, and Partners In Parenting Education (P.I.P.E.) Activities. She also performs prenatal, postpartum and child development (Ages & Stages) assessments in the home. Essence is a Certified Childbirth Educator and Certified Breastfeeding Counselor affiliated with Prepared Childbirth Educators Incorporated, as well as a Doula for the Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support and the Philadelphia Inner Circle Midwifery Program.

     

    Essence previously worked as an obstetrical clinical assistant at LifeCycle WomanCare in Bryn Mawr, Pa. While working at the birth center, she assisted Certified Nurse-Midwives and nurses with patient care and preparation and stocking of clinical supplies. She also worked for seven years as a medication care manager for Sunrise Assisted Living of Haverford, Pa. She prepared and administered medication to residents, and assisted residents with hands-on personal care, physical and emotional support, and daily living activities.

     

    Essence chose Frontier Nursing University’s Certified Nurse-Midwifery program because of its extensive history and because it allows her the opportunity to complete the program part-time while she balances work, life and school.

     

    “Frontier offers multiple opportunities for nurses to advance their career. The MSN to DNP program, for example, allows students to earn their Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree in a field they are passionate about,” said Essence. “Once I finish midwifery school, I plan to earn my DNP and continue to empower women, children and families in the community.”

     

    Essence also praised Frontier’s faculty and mentors who have supported, encouraged and inspired her throughout her midwifery journey. She noted the fantastic leadership opportunities, scholarships and nursing career benefits for students of color from different racial and ethnic backgrounds offered through FNU’s PRIDE Program. “As a member of the PRIDE Program, I hope to continue to impact and strive to advocate for diversity at FNU,” she said.

     

    “I am truly thankful to all of the FNU faculty, mentors and staff who have continuously supported me throughout my midwifery journey at FNU. I am grateful and blessed to have such a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the FNU community. I hope to do my very best to matriculate through the program successfully in order to fulfill my passion and finally accomplish my dream to become a midwife. Thank you FNU for being such an incredible inspiration to us all!”

     

    We are equally inspired by Essence’s passion and success and would like to thank her for sharing her journey with us. We are honored and proud that she is a part of the FNU community. You can hear more from Essence on why she wants to become a nurse-midwife in this short video:

     

     

    Essence Williams is a public health nurse for Philadelphia Nurse Family Partnership and will graduate from FNU’s Certified Nurse-Midwifery program in 2018. She was recently selected to be the student speaker at the National Black Nurses Association’s 44th Annual Institute and Conference in Memphis, Tenn., August 2-7, 2016. Her abstract proposal was selected among hundreds of student submissions from across the U.S. to be presented at the conference.

  • FNU Participates in #MyJeepStory

    FNU Participates in #MyJeepStory

    In honor of its 75th anniversary, Jeep is inviting fans and Jeep owners to participate by sharing their Jeep story online using #MyJeepStory. Our team at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) couldn’t pass on this opportunity to thank Jeep for all the help they have provided Frontier throughout the years.

    Here is our Jeep Story:

    When Mary Breckinridge established Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) in Leslie County, Ky. in 1925, she introduced the first nurse-midwives to the United States. In that time, nurses would ride horses on mountains through fog, flood or snow, in order to bring modern health care to one of the poorest and most inaccessible areas in the country.
    Everything changed in 1940 when FNS began using Jeeps instead of horses to traverse the Kentucky River and surrounding landscapes.

    Meet Jane, the first of many FNS Jeeps donated by the War Department. By 1954, all outcome statistics for FNS’ first 30 years were better than the country as a whole. 90 years later, FNU has nearly 5,000 graduates serving women and families across the globe.

    Thank you, Jeep for helping us provide quality healthcare to women and families throughout the years!

    Help us share the FNU Jeep story by reposting this blog and the video below to your own social media pages.

    Watch our FNU Jeep Story video here –

    For more information, contact FNU Director of Marketing and Communications, Brittney Edwards, at brittney.edwards@frontier.edu or 859-251-4652.

  • FNU Gives Back – Telethons, Giving & Cleanups!

    Our faculty and staff at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) have had a great time volunteering over the last few months. Here is a snapshot of some of our recent projects:

     

    Salvation Army Warehouse

     

    Back in December, a team of FNU staff had the opportunity to exercise and spend time together all while doing something for the community! We had a blast sorting and organizing gifts brought in from the Angel Tree and picking out toys for kids that did not get picked off the tree. We couldn’t have thought of a better way to celebrate the season of giving!

     

    Wendover Holiday Party

     

    FNU celebrates the holidays at Wendover.Frontier Nursing University hosted a holiday party at Wendover Bed & Breakfast Inn in December to benefit local families in need in the Leslie County, Ky., area. The event supported families in need with toys, books and warm clothing. FNU staff helped with many activities including food preparation, gift gathering, storytelling, singing and craft stations.

     

    Keeping Lexington Beautiful

     

    FNU helps to keep the local community clean.When one of our Credentialing staff members noticed the amount of trash on the road near our administrative offices in Lexington, Ky., she was bothered. Unlike many citizens, she decided instead of staying frustrated she would organize a team to do something about it. Our FNU community was able to bond over a few hours of trash pick up in March, and we are now hoping to make it a monthly activity. We will be partnering with Keep Lexington Beautiful for future months. Check out the organization’s website here.

     

    Kentucky Educational Television Telethon

     

    FNU sent a team to volunteer for the KET Telefund Phone Bank.FNU staff also had fun supporting Kentucky Educational Television (KET) this spring by sending a team to volunteer for the KET Telefund Phone Bank. A total of 14 FNU volunteers participated for a fun Sunday afternoon of answering phone calls and recording pledges totaling $18,301 for the six hours of volunteer time. FNU staff appeared live on TV for a portion of the time and Dean of Nursing Dr. Marfell was interviewed for the live show (go here to watch).

     

    See more FNU volunteer photos in our FNU Staff & Faculty Give Back Album on Facebook.

     

    Do you have any other volunteer ideas for our staff? We would love to hear about them in the comments below!

  • Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Tonya Nicholson, DNP, CNM, WHNP-BC, CNE

    At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of, 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.

     

    Dr. Tonya Nicholson is the Associate Dean of Midwifery and Women’s Health for Frontier Nursing University (FNU). She has a rich history with FNU as a 1999 graduate for midwifery, the first DNP graduate in 2009, and a WHNP graduate in 2011.

     

    Dr. Nicholson served the women of central Florida in full scope practice from 2000-2006 where she directed the midwifery service. In 2006, she joined the FNU faculty, and in 2010, she became the Program Director. Most recently in 2015, she became the Associate Dean.

     

    Although she has a variety of teaching experience, the majority has been focused on the prenatal period and clinical practice. Dr. Nicholson’s scholarly interests focus on communication and civility at the individual and institutional levels. She has presented at the regional and national level on the topics of civility, communication, and clinical precepting.

     

    Dr. Nicholson shares her passion of being a part of the pregnancy and birthing experience as a certified nurse-midwife, “It is the best job in the whole wide world… I feel phenomenally blessed every day to get to be a part of families becoming…what a privilege to witness the change in a woman or a family’s life.”

     

    To find out more about Dr. Nicholson and her work at FNU, see her interview with NursePractitionerSchools.com here. Hear her thoughts on nurse-midwifery in the United States in the video below.

     

  • Frontier Nursing University DNP Program Ranked in Top 10 by Best Medical Degrees

    Frontier Nursing University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program has ranked No. 10 in Best Medical Degrees’ “50 Best Value Online DNP Degree Programs 2016.” To meet the increased demand for advanced practice nursing leaders in health care systems, FNU introduced the DNP program in 2008 as a Post-Master’s option for certified nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. In 2014, FNU revamped its Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) curriculum to allow students to seamlessly complete a Companion DNP after the MSN.

     

    “Due to the increasing complexity of health care, there is a strong movement across the United States to require a DNP for entry into advanced practice roles,” said Dr. Susan Stone, FNU president. “We want to prepare our students to become primary health care providers and leaders as well as change agents who influence the system, particularly in rural and underserved areas.”

     

    Best Medical Degrees, an online resource guide to the best medical degree programs, ranked the 50 best Doctor of Nursing Practice programs by cost, length of program, curricula and accreditation. Best Medical Degrees used the nursing education accreditation Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), U.S. News and World Report, Forbes and Kiplinger as resources for the ranking.

     

    FNU’s DNP curriculum provides education in evidence-based practice, quality improvement and systems leadership, building on knowledge acquired during a nurse’s master’s studies. The total cost for a Post-Master’s DNP, for those who are already certified as nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners, is currently $18,645 for 33 credits.  

     

    FNU’s MSN+Companion DNP program is for students with a baccalaureate or associate’s degree in nursing who want to pursue both an MSN and a DNP degree. The program offers three tracks: nurse-midwife, family nurse practitioner and women’s health care nurse practitioner. The cost for completing the additional 17 credit hours needed for the DNP is currently $9,095 (in addition to the cost of the MSN program).

     

    According to Best Medical Degrees, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) endorsed in 2006 the concept that by the year 2015, the DNP would be the terminal degree for licensed nurses. Also, that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 34 percent employment increase for advanced practice nurses between 2012 and 2022.

     

    Best Medical Degrees also noted that a 2011 salary survey conducted by ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners magazine, reported that DNP-prepared nurse practitioners earned $8,576 more than master’s prepared nurse practitioners, bringing DNP estimated salaries to $105,516.

     

    FNU has a strong tradition of innovation in family nursing education with more than 75 years of experience in graduate nursing and midwifery programs. The MSN program has been ranked one of the top three programs by BestColleges.com. U.S. News & World Report also ranks FNU’s MSN and DNP degrees among the top nursing programs in the country. FNU came in at No. 28 in the 2017 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs.

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