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.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) student Paul Kibby, RN, is using his experience in the healthcare field to break down the stigma surrounding mental health in his community. Kibby is pursuing an MSN with a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) specialty, in which he entered through FNU’s Bridge program (Class 174), and is set to graduate this year.
Kibby currently works with a new behavioral health clinic startup in Mountain View, Arkansas. Stone County, where Mountain View is located, has a federal poverty rate of over 20 percent, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In his current role, Kibby is making efforts to research and change the stigma associated with mental health among rural men. He said he plans to do this by sending the local newspaper a letter to the editor, collaborating with the local community center, and having discussions with staff members at local banks, pharmacies, physicians offices, businesses and the local hospital to discuss the need to connect mental health with overall health care.
“They are both the same,” Kibby said.
Kibby has experience in several health care roles, such as an RN, nurse navigator, infusion and case manager and radiation oncology nurse for medical centers and institutions throughout Texas. He recently served as a case manager for Hospice of the Ozarks in Mountain Home, Arkansas, which is located about an hour away from Mountain View.
Upon initially moving to Mountain View, Kibby said he began to notice the prevalence of drug addiction and poverty among young people in the community. He soon realized he wanted to make a mission out of helping underprivileged members of his community with his health care background.
While working at Hospice of the Ozarks, Kibby injured his back and had to undergo surgery. As someone who deals with major depression and anxiety, Kibby said his time spent recovering from the surgery was particularly challenging, as he felt “idle.”
While recuperating, Kibby began looking into several programs online with the goal of “making a difference.” At the recommendation of some friends, Kibby decided to apply to FNU. To his surprise, he was accepted into the university.
“I ran down the stairs to tell my husband that I was accepted,” he said. “I cried so much that day because for the first time in months, I had great news and at 56-years-old, I was finally going to get to do more. I was on my way to making a difference in my little rural county. I still am holding on to that moment.”
For Kibby, what has appealed to him about FNU is the university’s rich history, diversity program, model of serving the underprivileged, and focus on rural community needs, regardless of socioeconomic status or race.
Kibby also is grateful for FNU’s faculty.
“The faculty allowed me to see the full potential within myself to be an excellent provider,” he said. “I am most thankful for all the faculty and hope to make each of them very proud of my accomplishments. My whole experience with FNU is and has been a valuable experience.”
We at FNU are grateful for Kibby and wish him continued success in his efforts to help his community!
Distinguished Service to Society – Sister Christine Schenk
Distinguished Service to Society – Dr. Rhoda Ojwang
Distinguished Service to Alma Mater – Elsie Maier Wilson
Distinguished Service to Alma Mater – Cathy Cook
Frontier Nursing University (FNU), located in Versailles, Ky., recently announced its annual award recipients. These awards are presented to FNU alumni who have gone on to make significant contributions to their communities or to the university. Among those honored was Dr. Rhoda Ojwang, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, of San Diego. Dr. Ojwang was awarded the Distinguished Service to Society Award. This award honors a graduate who goes above and beyond to provide exceptional service in their communities.
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).