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Frances Elizabeth Kramer Establishes Scholarship for FNU Students

Frances Elizabeth Kramer, who passed away on January 11, 2021, has left a gift that will benefit future Frontier Nursing University (FNU) students for decades to come. Kramer left a $50,000 bequest to the university to establish the Frances Elizabeth Kramer Scholarship.

“We are honored to establish the Frances Elizabeth Kramer Scholarship at Frontier Nursing University,” said FNU Chief Advancement Officer Angela Bailey, MA, CFRE. “As a member of the FNU Leadership Council, she helped guide the future of the university, which she supported with remarkable generosity.”

Per Ms. Kramer’s wishes, The Frances Elizabeth Kramer Scholarship has been established to support students in Eastern Kentucky, specifically in Leslie and Clay Counties who intend to practice in those counties upon graduation.

Ms. Kramer was born on April 24, 1931, in Heidelberg, Ky., to Harvey H. and Maude Hyden Hensley. Soon thereafter, they moved to Hyden, in Leslie County, Ky. Ms. Kramer graduated 9th grade from Cardome Academy in Georgetown and high school from Nazareth Academy in Nelson County in 1949.

She earned an associate’s degree in art from Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., in 1951 and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Wilmington College in Wilmington, Oh., in 1953. Ms. Kramer was a schoolteacher in Ohio before moving to Lexington, in the early 1960s to enter the real estate business. She owned and developed residential real estate for over 60 years.

Ms. Kramer was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution for more than 70 years, the Merry Wives of Greenbriar Club for 57 years, and the Kentucky Mountain Club for over 50 years, serving as its president for eight years.

A proud Kentucky Colonel, Ms. Kramer was passionate about teaching others to invest in themselves and the stock market. She encouraged people to get as much education as they could. She established several scholarship funds to help students from Leslie and Clay Counties in Eastern Kentucky, including the Frances Elizabeth Hensley Kramer Endowed Scholarship at Eastern Kentucky University. She also established a scholarship fund at the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., giving preference to students attending Centre College in Danville, Ky., and Stetson University in Deland, Fla.

For more information on how to give to FNU and how your gift can make a difference, please visit Frontier.edu/give-to-fnu/.

David Kramer (center), his wife Martha (left), and daughter Lynn (far left) present a check to FNU Dean of Nursing Dr. Joan Slager and FNU Chief Advancement Officer Angela Bailey (far right)

September 16, 2021
Frontier Nursing University Named A “2021 Great College to Work For”
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to a new survey by the Great Colleges to Work For® program.

The results, released on September 13, 2021, in a special insert of The Chronicle of Higher Education, are based on a survey of 196 colleges and universities. In all, 70 of the 196 institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies. Results are reported for small, medium, and large institutions, with FNU and its enrollment of 2,500 students included among the small universities (500 to 2,999 students).

Frontier won honors in 10 categories this year:
- Job Satisfaction & Support
- Compensation & Benefits
- Professional Development
- Mission & Pride
- Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness
- Confidence in Senior Leadership
- Faculty & Staff Well-being
- Shared Governance
- Faculty Experience
- Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Frontier, which has 256 employees, was also named to the Great Colleges Honor Roll, a status granted to only 42 colleges each year who are highlighted most across the recognition categories.

“We are incredibly honored to be recognized as a Great College to Work For and to be named to the Great Colleges Honor Roll,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone. “This is a reflection of our commitment to value the needs and contributions of every individual at Frontier. It is a great place to work because we have outstanding people who are fully committed to our students and our mission.”

The survey results are based on a two-part assessment process: an institution questionnaire that captured employment data and workplace policies from each institution, and a survey administered to faculty, administrators, and professional support staff. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution received recognition was the employee feedback.

The employee survey underwent a number of changes this year, including the addition of 11 new survey statements, some of which are related to new survey themes around diversity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as faculty and staff well-being. New survey demographics related to gender identity and remote work were also included this year.

In accordance with the survey changes, the recognition categories for the program were also updated this year to better reflect current patterns and methodologies in employee engagement in higher education.

The Great Colleges to Work For® program is one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country. For more information and to view all current and previous recognized institutions, visit the Great Colleges program website at GreatCollegesProgram.com and GreatCollegesList.com. ModernThink, a strategic human capital consulting firm, administered the survey and analyzed the results.

About Frontier Nursing University:

The mission of FNU is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education to prepare competent, entrepreneurial, ethical, and compassionate leaders in primary care to serve all individuals with an emphasis on women and families in diverse, rural, and underserved populations. FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse-Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the student’s home community serving as the classroom. Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Post-Graduate Certificates. To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu.
September 13, 2021
Dr. Khara’ Jefferson Named Director of Frontier Nursing University’s DNP Program

Frontier Nursing University announced that Khara’ Jefferson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, will be the new Director of the university’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program beginning September 26, 2021. Dr. Jefferson replaces Dr. Jane Houston, DNP, CNM, FACNM, who has served as the DNP Director since 2019.

Dr. Jefferson, who is now an assistant professor at Frontier, obtained her DNP from FNU in early 2017 and began teaching quality improvement methodology in FNU’s DNP Program shortly thereafter.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Dr. Jefferson as the new Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, CNM, DNSc, FAAN, FACNM. “She has proven to be an invaluable member of our faculty and is a strong voice and leader for the nursing profession. We are sad to say goodbye to Dr. Houston, who has been a tremendous asset to the university, but we are very fortunate to have someone like Dr. Jefferson ready to fill her shoes.”

Dr. Jefferson has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She worked as a Registered Nurse in an emergency department for several years before obtaining her Master of Science in Nursing degree from the University of South Alabama in 2011. She continued her work in Emergency Medicine as a Family Nurse Practitioner, where she precepted nurse practitioner students and worked in urgent care clinics, where she served on the executive leadership team. She is a certified life coach, energy healer, and has had HEART of a Leader training. Other leadership roles have included urgent care training development and coordinator for the Emergency Department Patient Experience Quality Impact Team and Right Care Alliance Chapter leader.

Currently, Dr. Jefferson is an active part-time clinician in EM, urgent care, and telehealth. She is an active member of the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners (LANP), American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF).

“I am very excited to embark on my new role as the DNP Program Director,” Dr. Jefferson said. “I am passionate about quality, equitable care for all, and engaging and empowering patients to have more control over their health and wellness. As DNP Program Director, I hope to impact change and prepare future leaders to provide evidence-based care.”

September 7, 2021
Alumni Spotlight: Kari Reimann Becomes First Nurse-Midwife in Area Providing Care for Planned Hospital Births with 24/7 CNM Coverage

Since she was young, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumnus Kari Reimann, CNM, has always been fascinated with the science of conception, pregnancy, and birth. Now, she is using that passion to fill a significant need in the St. Louis, Mo., birthing community.

While the area has many options for home births and birth center births with a certified nurse-midwife (CNM), few options are available for women seeking an in-hospital delivery with a CNM. Reimann is looking to change that, as the first nurse-midwife in the area providing care for planned hospital births with 24/7 CNM coverage.

In June 2021, Reimann became a member of the BJC Medical Group, a well-established, multi-specialty provider group with over 100 locations in greater St. Louis, mid-Missouri, and Southern Illinois. Reimann’s practice is located in a county just south of St. Louis that is currently underserved by medical professionals, particularly those providing OB services. She has a second office in Festus, a rural town 40 minutes south of St. Louis. Through her work, Reimann is helping fulfill part of FNU’s mission to “prepare competent, entrepreneurial, ethical, and compassionate leaders in primary care to serve all individuals with an emphasis on women and families in diverse, rural, and underserved populations.”

In addition, Reimann is the only full-scope CNM with delivery privileges at Missouri Baptist Medical Center. Her new position enables her to serve women seeking whole-person, time-intensive midwifery care who may not meet low-risk criteria for an out-of-hospital birth or simply prefer the hospital setting.

“We have an excellent out-of-hospital, free-standing birth center and an in-hospital birth center in St. Louis,” said Reimann. “Now, we can provide quality midwifery care for some higher-risk patients who are planning a hospital birth.”

By working with a collaborating physician, Reimann is able to support women facing special cases such as TOLACs (trial of labor after cesarean) and TOLAC2s (trial of labor after two caesareans). A TOLAC is an attempted vaginal birth in a patient who has had a previous Cesarean section. Frontier recognizes that it is provider collaboration like Reimann is implementing that will create effective change in the health care system and ultimately lower maternal mortality rates.

Improving maternal health, specifically maternal mortality, is an urgent task set before women’s health care providers. As cited by the National Vital Statistics System, the 2018 maternal mortality rate was 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 births – meaning 658 women died either during pregnancy, at birth, or within 42 days of birth.

With Reimann’s support and her collaborative structure, women who may be labeled “high risk” are able to still safely deliver under the care of a CNM. Her patients range from women whose hopes for home birth were prevented by medical risks, to women simply preferring a hospital setting. Whether her patients are hoping for a natural birth or plan to use an epidural, Reimann seeks to be a partner in the journey, which is an important aspect of nurse-midwifery care.

When it comes to delivering quality care, Reimann says her primary motivators are the shared decision-making model and allowing her patients to make an informed choice.

“As a woman who has been a patient in the general healthcare setting, I know what it is to leave the office visit feeling like I was rushed and didn’t get my questions answered,” Reimann said. “That’s why I try to make sure women feel informed and good about their plan when they’re leaving my practice.”

Her practice’s scheduling system reflects this, giving new patients 60-minute appointment slots while returning patients have 30 minutes to ensure plenty of time for questions and full participation in shared decision-making.

Reimann, who graduated in 2018, credits Frontier for much of her critical thinking skills.

“I encounter new medications or conditions often, but because I was equipped to read the research well, I’m able to go seek those articles and educate myself on an ongoing basis,” she said.

Her expertise and education enable her to better share in the joys and hardships women and families experience during the pregnancy and labor/birth journey.

“It is an honor and privilege to be a part of such an impactful time in people’s lives,” said Reimann. “I want to promote confidence in women that pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are most often normal healthy processes in a woman’s life. I approach their care through that lens though always careful to ensure that things stay healthy and low risk.”

Thank you for your dedication to serving women and families, Kari. We are proud to have you represent Frontier!

Are you interested in becoming a certified nurse-midwife? Frontier Nursing University offers a graduate Nurse-Midwifery specialty track that can be pursued full- or part-time while completing a Master of Science in Nursing or a Post-Graduate Certificate. After earning an MSN or certificate, you have the option to transition to the Companion Doctor of Nursing Practice program via a direct admission process. Learn more here.

August 31, 2021
Featured Preceptor: Renea Price, Bringing Compassionate Care to Rural Eastern North Carolina

This quarter’s Frontier Nursing University (FNU) featured preceptor is an FNU alumni Renea Price, FNP. Price brings a strong work ethic and immense compassion to the people of Inner Banks, N.C.

Growing up in rural North Carolina, Price always had an interest in health care and a heart for improving the health status of her community. She saw the need for care in her community and was determined to make a difference. Her first step in this journey began in 1998 when she worked as a certified medical assistant at a local OB-GYN practice. As soon as she dipped her toes into health care, she knew she was right in taking this path. In 2001, she became a registered nurse, working in a wide range of health care positions over the next nine years, including emergency medicine, urgent care, long-term care, and medical-surgical nursing.

In 2010, she graduated with her Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) master of science in nursing degree through Frontier. In 2015, she opened her own clinic in Plymouth, N.C. named Inner Banks Family Medicine. Today the practice goes by Roanoke Clinics.

The clinic’s location is rural and underserved. As with the majority of rural, blue-collar areas, Plymouth was in need of quality medical providers. Today, the clinic serves many logging and agricultural employees as well as paper mill and local government workers. When Price opened her practice, not only did she introduce an essential community service, she also established a new standard of care for her community.

FNP student Jessica Woodard nominated Price as this quarter’s featured preceptor. This is what Woodard has to say after her experience working alongside Price:

“The compassion Price shows to her community of Plymouth is profound, as well as the relationships she has and continues to create. Her altruistic character is not only shown in her practice but also in her call to precept students. I truly believe the students she precepts not only gain the experience of a nurse practitioner but also profit from the genuine, selfless nature of Renea. I can only hope to be as self-sacrificing as she is when I become an FNP.”

According to Woodard, when Price isn’t working in the clinic, she is volunteering at COVID-19 vaccination clinics or making house calls to her patients.

Price is a true example of FNU’s Culture of Caring, and the university is proud to have her as an alumni member and preceptor to current FNP students.

Thank you for your example to so many, Renea!

Are you interested in becoming a preceptor?

If you are a Certified Nurse-Midwife, Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner, or a Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, there is no better way to give back to FNU than by becoming a clinical preceptor. Our distance education model thrives because of talented clinical preceptors which is why we ensure that every preceptor is supported with educational resources to help in their role as a clinical educator. We also offer an honorarium for precepting after the student finishes his/her clinical practicum. Are you interested in becoming a preceptor? Let us know by clicking here and filling out a preceptor information request form.

August 23, 2021
Alumni Spotlight: Julie Percefull Makes an Impact on Rural Kentucky Pediatrics

“I went back to school to reach the underserved population of rural south-central Kentucky that desperately needs compassionate and superior health care. The area has a large volume of health disparities that I am dedicated to making a difference in by assisting those in the community where I live and serve,” Percefull said.

Percefull graduated from FNU in 2019 with her DNP and recently published her DNP project in the 2020 Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The article was written by Percefull and FNU assistant professor Judith Butler, DNP, CNM, WHNP, CNE, and is entitled “Improving mammography through effective screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment at a rural health center.”

Percefull’s project focused on the low rate of mammograms for eligible women at her clinical practice site. Before her project, only 25 percent of these women had received a mammogram in the past two years in an area where breast cancer rates rest above the state and country levels. During the 90 days of her project, Percefull raised these rates and saw screening and identification improve by 40 percent, patient engagement improve by 30 percent, and case management for “right care” more than double. Percefull implemented an electronic health record reminder for mammography screening, a patient mammography decision aid, a case management log, and weekly quality improvement team meetings to get these results. It is clear that by implementing these tools, providers have the opportunity to significantly increase the number of patients receiving necessary mammograms.

Since graduation, Percefull signed on as a provider with Family Medical Center of Hart County. She incorporates evidence-based guidelines while providing care to pediatric patients from birth to 18 years of age. She also collaborates with providers and ancillary staff to coordinate patient care and participates in quality improvement processes to find the best ways to encourage and assist her community. Additionally, Percefull often serves as a preceptor to FNP and DNP students in her area to further give back and support the future of quality patient care in the region.

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic began, Percefull has also worked with an interdisciplinary team within the clinic to create access to testing, implementing drive-through and in-office rapid testing clinics. She served as the primary source for research and provided current COVID education to providers, staff, and patients.

Percefull’s dedication is making a difference in the lives of the children in rural Kentucky, and FNU is proud to have her as an alumna. Keep up the excellent work! We can’t wait to see the wave of change that comes from your commitment to care.

Are you interested in becoming an FNP? FNU offers a graduate Family Nurse Practitioner specialty track that can be pursued full- or part-time while completing a Master of Science in Nursing or a Post-Graduate Certificate. To learn more, go here.

August 19, 2021
Dr. Jess Calohan Selected as American Academy of Nursing Fellow

The American Academy of Nursing (Academy) announced that Frontier Nursing University Department Chair of Psychiatric-Mental Health Jess Calohan, DNP, PMHNP-BC, has been selected to be inducted into the 2021 Class of Fellows. Dr. Calohan is one of 225 distinguished nursing leaders selected by the Academy who will be formally inducted into the 2021 Class of Fellows during the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, October 7-9.

A retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, Calohan served the military in a variety of medical positions for 20 years. Before coming to Frontier in 2017, he was the Program Chair and Assistant Professor of the PMHNP program in the Graduate School of Nursing at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., from 2013-2017. His distinguished military record includes a long list of awards, including a Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, and eight Army Commendation Medals.

Dr. Calohan’s professional activities include memberships in the American Association for Men in Nursing, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of American Psychiatric Nurses Association.

“We are very pleased to have Dr. Calohan, who chairs the Department of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, at Frontier,” said Dean of Nursing, Dr. Joan Slager. “The program continues to develop innovative teaching strategies and expand the enrollment guided by his exemplary leadership.”

“I am incredibly honored to be selected for induction as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing,” Dr. Calohan said. “The Academy is an important and influential leader in the promotion of nursing leadership and advancement, and I am delighted to be part of such a distinguished organization.”

The Academy serves the public by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. Academy Fellows are inducted into the organization for their extraordinary contributions to improve health locally and globally. With more than 2,800 Fellows, the Academy represents nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia.

“I am thrilled to welcome another exceptional class of Fellows to the American Academy of Nursing during a momentous time of change and progress in our collective efforts to fulfill the organization’s vision of healthy lives for all people,” said Academy President Eileen Sullivan-Marx, Ph.D., RN, FAAN. “The Academy aims to improve health and achieve health equity through nursing leadership, innovation, and science. The Academy’s Fellows embody our values of equity, diversity and inclusivity, inquiry, integrity, and courage, which enable us to achieve new heights of impact that advance health policy across the globe. Congratulations to this dynamic cohort of leaders who bring diverse experience and expertise to the Fellowship.”

Through a competitive, rigorous application process, the Academy’s Fellow Selection Committee, which is composed of current Fellows, reviewed hundreds of applications to select the 2021 Fellows based on their contributions to advance the public’s health. Induction into the Academy is a significant milestone in a nurse leader’s career, in which their accomplishments are honored by their colleagues within and outside the profession.

August 16, 2021
FNU to Hold Virtual Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, September 25

University of Washington Professor Dr. LaTonya Trotter to Give Keynote Address

Dr. LaTonya Trotter to give FNU’s 2021 Commencement Keynote Address.

Dr. LaTonya J. Trotter, Associate Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington, will be the keynote speaker at Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) 2021 commencement ceremony, which will be held virtually on Saturday, September 25 at 2:00 p.m.

A medical sociologist, ethnographer, and author, Dr. Trotter is the author of “More than Medicine: Nurse Practitioners and the Problems they Solve for Patients, Health Care Organizations, and the State.” The book, which was published in 2020, chronicles a group of nurse practitioners and the care they provide for four hundred Black older adults living with poor health and limited means. Dr. Trotter explores the care they provide and how it addresses medical, social, and systemic issues that are prevalent in underprivileged and underserved members of the community. Dr. Trotter has also been published in The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (2020), Social Currents (2019), and Gender & Society (2017).

On her website LaTonyaTrotter.com, Dr. Trotter states, “As a scholar, I take the prominence of health care seriously, using its terrain to understand how regimes of inequality are reproduced through the social construction of problems, patients, and professionals.”

Dr. Trotter was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College, majoring in Sociology and American Studies. She earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Washington, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from Princeton University.

She is currently an Associate Professor within the University of Washington’s Department of Bioethics and Humanities. Prior to her position at the University of Washington, Dr. Trotter was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Dr. LaTonya Trotter as our keynote speaker at this year’s virtual commencement ceremony,” FNU President Dr. Susan Stone said. “Dr. Trotter’s extensive research and study of our nation’s healthcare disparities and the role that nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives can play in alleviating those disparities is so expertly explained in her published works. Her message will undoubtedly inspire our new graduates as they continue to serve those in their communities across the country.”

FNU’s commencement ceremony honors the nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who have completed the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, Master in Science of Nursing degree, or Post-Graduate Certificate.

August 9, 2021

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