Each year Frontier Nursing University (FNU) faculty leaves a lasting impact in the health care community. This blog highlights the research, presentations, and acknowledgments created and earned by faculty members between April and June of this year.
Paula Alexander-Delpech, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, APRN, Associate Professor
Dr. Alexander Delpech is completing a two-year appointment on the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) inaugural Diversity Committee.
She is a member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Group, and served as a faculty reviewer on the AACN Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Faculty Toolkit. In addition, she was selected to participate in the 2021-2022 cohort of the AACN’s Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing Program (ELAN).
In collaboration with Billinda Tebbenhoff and Audrey Perry, DNP, CNM, CNE, Dr. Alexander-Delpech’s abstract was accepted for a poster presentation at the APNA 35th Annual Conference: “Revolutionizing Person-Centered Care Through the Integration of Teams STEEPS in a PMHNP Curriculum.”
Tia Andrighetti, DNP, CNM, CHSE-A, CNE, Innovation Coach and Simulation Coordinator
Dr. Andrighetti was appointed to the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) Site Visitor Panel.
Megan Arbour, Ph.D., CNM, CNE
Dr. Arbour published “Clinical Implications for Women of a Low-Carbohydrate or Ketogenic Diet With Intermittent Fasting” in Nursing for Women’s Health in collaboration with Melissa Stec, Kelly C. Walker and Judith C. Wika.
Jan Engstrom, PhD, APRN, CNM, WHNP-BC, CNE
Dr. Engstrom volunteered with the Flagler County Health Department COVID-19 Vaccination Program, doing advanced clinical screenings for people desiring the vaccine. Dr. Engstrom volunteered at 36 sessions, screening about 3,500 people.
Jana Esden, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE
In April, Dr. Esden presented at the National Conference for Nurse Practitioners Spring 2021 Conference. She discussed the diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, using scenario-based synchronous group learning to improve student confidence in prescribing. The session was also recorded for the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties 47th Annual Conference.
Kendra Faucett, DNP, CNM, Assistant Professor
In May, Dr. Faucett presented, “Stand up and be Counted: Why Ensuring Birth Certificate Accuracy Should be the Priority of Every Midwife,” at the American College of Nurse-Midwives virtual annual conference. The presentation was in collaboration with Emily McGahey.
Meghan Garland, MSN, CNM
Garland published “Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectations, Group Social Support, and Adherence to Physical Activity in African American Women,” in collaboration with JoEllen Wilbur, Louis Fogg, Shannon Halloway, Lynne Braun, and Arlene Miller.
She was awarded a competitive grant from the Midwest Nursing Research Society to support her research and internal funding from the Rush University College of Nursing. Her dissertation research is on the determinants of physical activity among pregnant Black women. Garland, who is pursuing her doctorate at Rush University’s College of Nursing, intends to develop culturally tailored physical activity interventions for women with limited access to high-quality care.
“I saw an opportunity to promote health in a population that frequently is overlooked or doesn’t receive the quality of health care that they deserve,” Garland said.
Jane Houston, DNP, CNM, FACNM
Dr. Houston received the Lang International Scholarship Award from the ACNM to virtually attend the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).
Khara’ Jefferson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, Assistant Professor
Dr. Jefferson published “Implementing a Standardized Cardiac Protocol for the Adolescent Preparticipation Sports Examination” in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care.
Laura Manns-James, Ph.D., CNM, WHNP-BC, CNE, Associate Professor
Dr. Manns-James, in collaboration with Nell Tharpe, Cindy Farley, Robin Jordan, Heather Bradford, Nena Harris and Heidi Fillmore, published “Clinical Practice Guidelines for Midwifery and Women’s Health (6th ed.) in Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Audrey Perry, DNP, CNM, CNE
Dr. Perry successfully won the primary election for School Board Director and will be moving on to November and the general election.
Kevin Scalf, DNP, PMHNP-BC
In April, Dr. Scalf presented “Demystifying Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Clinical Setting” at the Kentucky Association of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse-Midwives Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.
Ana Verzone, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CNM
In collaboration with Forrest, C. L., Dr. Verzone published “Antibiotic Stewardship: Improving patient-Centered Right Care in Urgent Care Using a Shared Decision Aid and 5 Ds Tool” in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Sally Weiss, EdD, APRN, FNP-C, CNE, ANEF
Dr. Weiss was selected to sit on the education committee for the state organization Florida Nurse Practitioner Network. F.A. Davis also contacted her to contribute to a chapter on cellular regulation for Linda Caputi’s new book, Nursing Concepts a Practical Approach.
A huge congratulations to all of our faculty for everything they do to build a better world for the health care community and underserved populations!
The 11th annual Diversity Impact Conference 2021 was held as a virtual event, June 24-26. The theme of this year’s event was “Dismantling Systemic Racism and Discrimination in Healthcare: Our Roles and Responsibilities”. The overarching goal of the three-day conference was to explore the history of healthcare systems as a vehicle for promoting racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression.
The Spring 2021 issue of the Frontier Nursing University Quarterly Bulletin takes a close look at the many ways that FNU alumni, students, faculty, staff, volunteers, and donors impact the university and its mission. Leading the way is a tribute to Kitty Ernst, who announced her retirement from FNU earlier this year. She looks back at her remarkable career, including her 70 years of involvement with FNU, in her own words, while President Dr. Susan Stone and others share their own thoughts and memories about Kitty.
With the COVID-19 Pandemic, social justice and reform, political turmoil, and the completion of the move to the Versailles campus, 2020 was unlike any other year in the history of FNU. Still, the university maintained its course, relying on our strategic plan to guide our actions and measure our progress. 
Faculty, staff, preceptors and students of 
Frontier Nursing University
The conference will come to a close on June 26 following “A Path to Healing: Cultivating AntiRacism as a Daily Practice,” hosted by 
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).