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  • FNU Sponsors the 2020 Virtual International Day of the Midwife May 4 – 5

    FNU Sponsors the 2020 Virtual International Day of the Midwife May 4 – 5

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to sponsor this year’s Virtual International Day of the Midwife (VIDM)! In the spirit of the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO), VIDM is a 24-hour free online conference taking place on Monday, May 4 and Tuesday, May 5, 2020, for nurse-midwives and anyone interested in childbirth. 

    This year, expect to hear from several fantastic keynote speakers and student speakers during the online virtual conference. The live link will appear on the VIDM website closer to its date.

    This year’s celebration will kick off on Monday, May 4, with two special pre-conference sessions led by WHO associates:

    The Virtual International Day of the Midwife will feature several informative sessions covering a wide range of subjects for 24 hours on Tuesday, May 5. The free virtual event, which uses online conferencing software, brings all interested in childbirth matters together irrespective of international geographic borders. 

    FNU’s Jane F. Houston, DNP, CNM, MSN, FACNM will serve as Master Facilitator of this year’s sessions. Dr. Houston has served on the committee for many years and has also participated as a speaker and facilitator. She isn’t the first of the FNU community to participate – in 2018, FNU president and certified nurse-midwife Dr. Susan Stone served as one of five keynote speakers, speaking on the importance of a diverse nurse-midwifery workforce. 

    This year’s keynote speakers are Sheena Byrom, who will begin the conference, Dr. Vijaya Krishnan, Saraswathi Vedam, and Susan Crowther. See the full schedule of events here.

    VIDM is a fantastic learning opportunity and offers a great chance to hear from some of the brightest minds in midwifery. Students, faculty, alumni and the public can tune in for free to the 2020 VIDM on www.vidm.org.

    To learn more about FNU’s distance education degrees and specialty tracks, please visit our website.

     

    2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to support and join the World Health Organization’s international campaign designating 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.” In recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, FNU joins the efforts to raise awareness of healthcare shortages in the U.S. and abroad; demonstrate the need for more nurses and nurse-midwives; educate the public of the value of nurses and nurse-midwives in their communities and advocate for access to quality healthcare for every individual.

  • FNU to Host 10th Annual Diversity Impact Conference as Virtual Event

    FNU to Host 10th Annual Diversity Impact Conference as Virtual Event

    The Diversity and Inclusion Office at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is hosting its 10th annual Diversity Impact Conference as a virtual event, June 11-13, 2020. While this is the first year the event is being hosted online, it marks a decade of bringing together national thought-leaders and speakers to engage with the FNU community on important topics facing the nursing and midwifery workforce.

    The event opens the door for nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery students to join FNU faculty and staff in collaborative discussions, address health disparities, and find proactive solutions to improve minority health among underrepresented and marginalized groups. 

    The theme of this year’s conference is “Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020: Increasing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” going hand-in-hand with the World Health Organization’s designation of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The Year of the Nurse and the Midwife was established to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives, highlight the challenging conditions they often face and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery workforce. 

    “The nurse and the midwife roles have morphed, diversified, and elevated to innovative heights over the centuries with cutting edge research, education, practice, and policy on the trajectory of caring for those who are unable to care for themselves and continue to evolve for the cause,” said FNU’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Geraldine Young,  DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CDE, FAANP.

    “We believe in the benefits of a diverse university and the positive impacts our diverse graduates can make in communities across the country,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN. “Our graduates serve people of all races and cultures and are increasingly coming from diverse backgrounds. It is imperative that our students, faculty, and staff have cultural awareness and competency in order to effectively advance our mission of servant leadership.” 

    “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are the keys to the future success of the health care delivery system,” said Dr. Young.

    The annual Diversity Impact Conference is open to FNU students, alumni, faculty, and staff who want to become part of FNU’s legacy of providing care to rural and underserved communities. Those that participate will engage in cross-cultural activities and intercultural workshops, along with nurse-leadership strategies on how to effectively care for diverse populations within their communities.

    In years past, the Diversity Impact Conference themes have included celebrating 80 years of FNU’s legacy and exploring how to create meaningful connections in diverse communities. 

    This year’s three-day virtual event is expected to unite more than 100 FNU students, alumni, faculty, staff and community leaders, and will include:

    • Sessions hosted by nationally recognized nursing leaders
    • Cross-cultural activities and intercultural workshops
    • Team-building exercises, cultural competency awareness training, and open dialogues
    • Virtual networking with FNU students, alumni, faculty, and staff to strengthen collaborative discussions
    • Nurse-leadership strategies and much more!

    FNU students, alumni, faculty, and staff can find out more about and sign up to attend the Diversity Impact Conference at Frontier.edu/Diversity.

     

    2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to support and join the World Health Organization’s international campaign designating 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.” In recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, FNU joins the efforts to raise awareness of healthcare shortages in the U.S. and abroad; demonstrate the need for more nurses and nurse-midwives; educate the public of the value of nurses and nurse-midwives in their communities and advocate for access to quality healthcare for every individual.

  • COVID-19 Front Lines: Dee Polito Calms the Fears of Expectant Mothers

    COVID-19 Front Lines: Dee Polito Calms the Fears of Expectant Mothers

    The Frontier community is proud to have students and alumni serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the next few weeks, we are committed to sharing their stories in order to provide insight, hope and encouragement. Thank you to all the health care workers who are risking their own well-being daily to serve our nation. Click here to read more stories of courage and dedication. 

    Even in the best of times and conditions, expectant mothers understandably experience a range of emotions such as excitement, fear, joy and uncertainty. Now, many are facing an additional stress element in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s a fear understood and, at times, shared by their providers.

    “Each new day brings a heightened level of concern from our families and while we try to practice social distancing; birth is a very intimate process,” said Dolores (Dee) J. Polito, APRN, CNM, who is the Director and Chief Midwife at the University of Kentucky Midwife Clinic in Lexington, Ky.

    “Mostly we are seeing high levels of anxiety among staff and patients both. It is difficult to maintain a calm demeanor when staff is anxious about exposure and to encourage staff to portray calmness to patients for their care is challenging. I work with an amazing team of CNMs (FNU graduates JoAnne B. Burris, APRN, CNM, Class 130 and Hayden Murrell Meza, APRN, CNM, Class 136, along with Chrissie Adams, CNM). They demonstrate strength and creativity and I am proud of their responsiveness, dedication and perseverance. They inspire me to be innovative and I wouldn’t want to be in a crisis with anyone else.”

    Dee with FNU alumni Hayden, Chrissie and JoAnne

    Dee, who received a certificate in midwifery from Frontier Nursing University (FNU) in 1997 and is certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board, offers both pregnancy support and non-pregnancy services at the UK Midwife Clinic. For women with healthy, normal pregnancies, the certified nurse-midwives provide care and guidance through the pregnancy, up to and including delivery.

    In 2019, Dee completed the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) training to be able to prescribe Buprenorphine, allowing her “to create a midwifery-led centering model of group care for pregnancy in the setting of substance abuse with the support of medication-assisted therapy.”

    The ability to understand and adjust to the needs of the women and families in her career has always been important, but never more critical than in the midst of the pandemic. Dee credits FNU with helping furnish her with the skills to face this challenge. 

    “FNU prepared me for my role as a leader and an advocate for women and families in their independent, community-based learning platform,” Dee said.

    “When I was a student, we sent our assignments to our faculty by snail mail and it seemed innovative at the time. The innovation and creativity it took to translate midwifery education to a community-based model was unique at the time and those same traits were instilled into me as a student. Being innovative and creative is a requirement when faced with the challenges and uncertainty of the global health crisis for COVID-19.”

    Part of that innovation for Dee and her team has been the implementation of Telehealth to reduce risk of exposure. 

    “I think it’s very important to preserve some normalcy and doing this project together – but separated – allowed my staff to be creative and have some fun . We have to remember that the work we do and the care we give cannot stop because of coronavirus. Women and families still seek our caring attitudes, our warmth and our friendliness. And they can count on a smile even if it’s under a mask,” said Dee.

    “We are responding to many patient concerns about keeping their pregnancies healthy and safe and we are having to be creative in getting patients the care they need,” Dee said.

    “Telehealth is teaching us that this may be a valuable tool in how we provide care. There have been wrinkles to iron out and we continue to learn how to make the experience better and how to meet all the requirements for appropriate and timely billing. Telehealth will be a part of our services going forward.”

    Even though there is fear and uncertainty every day for Dee, her patients and her staff, Dee leads the way, understanding that she has been prepared to handle this challenge. Experience, training, education, innovation, and leadership are just some of the tools she has acquired throughout her career to give her the confidence to face the COVID-19 pandemic day after day. 

    “I was a student of Kitty Ernst,” Dee said. “She was my faculty for the Birth Center Course. She was perhaps the most influential force to prepare me for my role now.”

    “During Midwifery Bound, Kitty met with a small group of students and talked to us about our journey to midwifery school.  She asked, ‘What important thing have you done in your life?’. I responded that I hadn’t really done anything important in my life thus far. She asked, ‘Are you a mother?’ and I responded that I was indeed a mother. She exclaimed, ‘Then you have done the most important thing in the world. You are a mother.’”

    “From then on,” Dee continued, “I felt empowered, inspired and motivated to achieve any goal I set for myself.”

     

    What is a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)? 

    Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) are educated in two disciplines: midwifery and nursing. They earn graduate degrees, complete a midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), and pass a national certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) to receive the professional designation of CNM. Certified Midwives (CMs) are educated in the discipline of midwifery. They earn graduate degrees, meet health and science education requirements, complete a midwifery education program accredited by ACME, and pass the same national certification examination as CNMs to receive the professional designation of CM.
  • Frontier Embraces Its Culture Of Caring During Crisis: Frontier Bound Event Turns Virtual

    Frontier Embraces Its Culture Of Caring During Crisis: Frontier Bound Event Turns Virtual

    Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) commitment to fostering a culture of caring has never been more evident than in our country’s current time of crisis.

    In recent days, organizations across the U.S. have been forced to make urgent decisions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. To protect students and faculty, FNU transitioned its most recent Frontier Bound event, a multi-day orientation that normally takes place on campus in Kentucky, into a fully virtual event for incoming students.

    Using video webinar technology, Frontier Bound attendees were able to see and talk to one another in real-time, share information and nurture dreams.

    FNU associate dean of midwifery Dr. Tonya Nicholson said, “As presenters, we could share our screens in order to have the incoming students ‘see’ and get to know us as faculty, learn how to utilize the technology and connect face-to-face with fellow incoming students.”

    Students exiting the Frontier Bound experience left feeling connected to one another and the university, inspired in their career choice and ready to start their FNU journey.

    A Culture Of Caring

    Everything we do at FNU is built on a foundation that embraces a culture of caring, recognizing that every individual has value and worth. The ripple effect of this culture of caring spreads far beyond FNU community members to the wider healthcare system, with the goal to improve patient outcomes all over the country and the world.

    The five elements of FNU’s culture of caring include:

      • Professionalism (Excellence, responsibility, transparency, consistency)
      • Inclusivity (Equality, awareness, sensitivity, humility)
      • Respect (Importance, uniqueness, friendliness, genuine interest)
      • Positive Communication (Understanding, thoughtfulness, openness)
      • Mutual Support (Helpfulness, awareness, patience, concern, kindness)

    Frontier Bound Goes Virtual

    To kick off their virtual Frontier Bound experience, students met together for a general welcome and a glimpse into the rich history and heritage of FNU. They saw pictures and heard stories from the early days of Frontier Nursing Service (FNS). Students enjoyed learning about the nurses who served the rural population of eastern Kentucky on horseback and were amazed at the fortitude and ingenuity of the early FNS nurses.  

    Nurse-midwifery (CNEP), Family nurse practitioner (FNP) and women’s healthcare nurse practitioner (WHNP) students met together in small groups to review their curricula, learn about their roles, and develop mission statements for their future practices. Groups came up with inspiring mission statements such as these:

    We will be a present force that empowers and educates through service. We will educate families to change and enhance their dynamic for generations to come. 

    Our mission is to provide holistic quality, evidence-based care, while empowering and educating women and their families across the lifespan. We will create a feeling of community and be fully present during moments of joy and grief, while continuing to remember the mission, values, and legacy of the midwives before us.

    One of the most valued sessions was with FNU’s Mary Breckinridge Chair, Kitty Ernst, as she shared the history of the distance education program and highlighted the importance of the three Rs: Relationships, Resilience, and Reflection.  

    Each day of Frontier Bound began with acknowledgments of the stress and anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and strategies for coping positively. Faculty actively engaged in supporting and meeting students’ needs by allowing extra time to resolve IT issues and offering frequent Q&A sessions. A sense of community was instilled through team-building activities and students left the experience having made friends for life! 

    Much like they would have at an on-campus Frontier Bound, students concluded their time with reflection and the ringing of a virtual bell signifying the achievement of the first step in their graduate education journey. The bell-ringing echoes Frontier’s history, recalling FNS nurses who were called to action when the bell outside their nursing center was rung. 

    Initial anxieties expressed by many students were quelled by the time the virtual Frontier Bound wrapped up, and at the conclusion, students reported that they felt the culture of caring in action. 

    One student said, “Frontier Bound was terrific! The staff and faculty were so engaged and helpful. I was anxious when I heard we were not coming to campus, but you all did a great job of easing our stress and answering all our questions; thank you.”

    Another commented, “The staff was great, and most importantly, they expressed their willingness to support us throughout this program. I can honestly say, after this experience, any doubt I may have had is out the window! I can’t wait to become a fantastic nurse-midwife.”

    FNU’s commitment to maintaining a culture of caring despite unexpected challenges was proven in the transition to a fully virtual Frontier Bound, and we can’t wait to continue to support students along every step of their journeys. FNU also plans to hold upcoming orientation sessions virtually through June.

  • COVID-19 Front Lines: Jaime Westlund Screens Patients in Rural Hawaii

    COVID-19 Front Lines: Jaime Westlund Screens Patients in Rural Hawaii

    The Frontier community is proud to have students and alumni serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the next few weeks, we are committed to sharing their stories in order to provide insight, hope and encouragement. Thank you to all the health care workers who are risking their own well-being daily to serve our nation. Click here to read more stories of courage and dedication. 

    When Jaime Westlund, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, Class 156 moved with her family from her home state of Idaho to Hawaii in August 2019, she did so with the intent to serve the community, staying true to the history and mission of FNU. Little did she know at that time how quickly her commitment to community would be tested. 

    “While I was attending Frontier Nursing University to become a nurse practitioner, I made an oath to always ‘answer the call’ within my community,” Jaime said. “Today, as I screened hundreds of patients to determine if they met the criteria to be tested for COVID-19, I felt a connection to that oath that I have never felt before.”

    Since moving to Hawaii with her husband and four children (ages 11, 7, 6 and 3), Jaime has worked as a nurse practitioner in the general surgery department at Ali’i Health Center in Kailua Kona. Typically she spends half her week at the clinic seeing a variety of patients, including wound care, and the other half of her week at the hospital, rounding on general surgery patients and scrubbing in with the surgeons for operations. 

    With the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic, however, her role has expanded. She created informational posters for the community and has been screening patients for the virus while taking the necessary steps to protect herself and her family as best she can. She is careful to use PPE while at work and removes her clothes and showers before going near her family. 

    “I took an oath to answer the call, and I have been doing that within my community,” Jaime said. “I encourage everyone to do their part whether big or small, whether you have taken an oath or not.”

    Living on an island, supplies are always in demand and the pandemic has amplified the issue. 

    “We live on an island so it is truly rural health care at its finest,” Jaime said. “We do not have access to a lot of medical supplies or equipment and it takes a really long time to get things on the island. We have very few resources available. We have very few ICU beds and ventilators so it is crucial we contain the virus.”

    Jaime said that telemedicine is being utilized as much as possible to limit the number of patients in the clinic and that all elective surgeries have been stopped. 

    “There are gaps and shortages everywhere,” Jaime said. “Unfortunately that is a typical day for us here.” 

    Just another day serving the community and fulfilling her oath to answer the call. 

     

  • COVID-19 In Her Own Words: Joy McElyea

    COVID-19 In Her Own Words: Joy McElyea

    The Frontier community is proud to have students and alumni serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the next few weeks, we are committed to sharing their stories in order to provide insight, hope and encouragement. Thank you to all the health care workers who are risking their own well-being daily to serve our nation. Click here to read more stories of courage and dedication. 

    Editor’s Note: Following is a personal account from the front lines of one of the COVID-19 hotspots, written by Joy McElyea, MSN, CNM, RN, CNEP Class 149, DNP Class 33, on April 1, 2020. We thank Joy for her work and allowing us to share her story.  

    I am a CNM and RN in Gunnison, Colo., a small town in Western Colorado that is one of the COVID-19 hotspots (last I checked we were number six, just below places in New York and Louisiana). Our county includes a ski resort — and ours, along with two or three others in Colorado, were among the earliest places hit. I’ve been on the front lines for a few weeks now, and I admit, I’m tired. 

    We are all nurses first, and this has primarily been my role. I’m a CNM in an outpatient clinic only (no deliveries), so initially I did see all of the OB patients in our clinic (my OB was one who was sick early on), counseling and answering questions based on what limited information we had. But primarily, I’ve been working at our small, critical access hospital in an RN role. Because we’re small, our staff is all cross-trained—I’m labor and delivery and medical surgery. My nursing background is corrections and long-term care. But these days, I’m standing next to ER doctors and EMS crews who are intubating my patients to send them to another, higher-care facility. We don’t have an ICU. Because we were hit early, we are still able to ship our patients to other hospitals in the state. I worry about when we can’t and suddenly I am the one taking care of that intubated, vented patient. I can only imagine the fear in larger hospitals, worrying about what to do there when beds and ventilators run out.

    As an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), I know I’m trained well. I know how to stay calm, look at the big picture, utilize resources, quiet my mind, and find the steady voice to tell my patient they will be okay just prior to sedation. Later, I can find the strength to call my patient’s daughter and tell her that just before intubation, her father was calm and was able to laugh. And later still, in the quietness of a country night while I’m out walking my dogs (even quieter now that our county is on lockdown), I’m also able to tell myself that I will be okay. 

    I’ve watched the wave of awareness sweep over social media. The disbelief and downplaying, the shock when it hits someplace close, the panic over increasing reports from front lines, and then the sudden gut-punching awareness when it’s your patient. Just as silence in health care can be ominous (no infant cry after delivery, decreased breath sounds on auscultation, absence of heartbeat on a pronounced patient), the silence today on my news feed is also ominous. It means we’re all in the thick of it. We’re all telling ourselves to take that deep breath. We’re all so unbelievably tired. 

    The comforting routine of school returns for me next week (I have one term left in my DNP program). I am so thankful that Frontier continues on, adapting just like all of us on the front lines, supporting students just as we support our patients. Healthcare will be different after this, but the flexibility, empathy, understanding and forward thinking nature of the FNU community will prepare us well for whatever role we find ourselves in. And for that, I am grateful.  

  • Winter Term Featured Preceptors: Patty Kandiko, Jeana Smith, Karin VanderVelde & Karen Ady

    Winter Term Featured Preceptors: Patty Kandiko, Jeana Smith, Karin VanderVelde & Karen Ady

    In the heart of Grand Junction, CO., four Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumni with a passion for nurse-midwifery are mentoring the next generation through precepting. Patty Kandiko, CNM, Jeana Smith, CNM, Karin VanderVelde, DNP, CNM, WHNP-BC, and Karen Ady, CNM are all being honored as FNU’s 2020 Winter Term featured preceptors. Patty, Jeana, and Karin V.  are currently catching babies at Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center, while Karen A. works at Mesa Midwives on the Western slope of Colorado. 

    Preceptors play a significant role in a nurse-midwife’s education – especially in recent FNU graduate Heidi Phillips’ case. According to Heidi, she first crossed paths with her preceptors in an unusual but oddly meant-to-be way. In 2018 during her cross-country move to Oregon for a hospital clinical site, Heidi and her husband made plans to stop in Grand Junction, Colo. to see Community Hospital which her great-grandfather Dr. Kenneth Graves founded in 1946. Heidi began searching on Google for the hospital and came across Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center. She looked further into the website and became intrigued when she realized an FNU grad founded the center. Heidi connected with Patty during that visit in 2018, and a year later when her Oregon hospital site fell through, Patty offered her a preceptorship position at the birth center. Heidi reached out to Karen A. with Mesa Midwives, a hospital midwifery practice in Grand Junction, who was also willing to be her preceptor.

    “It is a huge blessing to have four Frontier nurse-midwives as preceptors because we all have the same vision to serve rural and underserved populations,” said Heidi.

    Heidi knows that her preceptors sacrifice a lot for her to become a nurse-midwife. Karin V., for example, has not caught a baby with her own hands in months. She and many other preceptors choose to give up that privilege for a time so students like Heidi can pursue their own dreams. 

    According to Heidi, her preceptors were particularly supportive during the period of time from August 2019 to February 2020 as she was on call 24/7, meeting her clinical requirements. 

    “My preceptors’ attention to detail, instruction of critical skills and overall care have influenced me to do the same for students in the future. I am looking forward to being a preceptor one day once I get more experience under my belt,” said Heidi.

    Upon graduating, Heidi will join Patty, Jeana, and Karin V. at Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center, where she is excited to continue to fulfill the vision of Mary Breckinridge and FNU to meet the needs of women in Grand Junction. 

    “What an honor to be serving the rural populations of Western Colorado, just as my great-grandfather did over half a century ago. I am overjoyed by the opportunity to provide the midwifery model of care alongside the most passionate and empowering nurse-midwives I know,” said Heidi.

    Thank you, preceptors, for investing in FNU students and the future of nurse-midwifery! 

    Click here to read about previously recognized preceptors or to nominate a preceptor. Interested in becoming a Frontier preceptor? Learn more.

     

    2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to support and join the World Health Organization’s international campaign designating 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.” In recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, FNU joins the efforts to raise awareness of healthcare shortages in the U.S. and abroad; demonstrate the need for more nurses and nurse-midwives; educate the public of the value of nurses and nurse-midwives in their communities and advocate for access to quality healthcare for every individual. 

     

    What is a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)? 

    Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) are educated in two disciplines: midwifery and nursing. They earn graduate degrees, complete a midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), and pass a national certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) to receive the professional designation of CNM. Certified Midwives (CMs) are educated in the discipline of midwifery. They earn graduate degrees, meet health and science education requirements, complete a midwifery education program accredited by ACME, and pass the same national certification examination as CNMs to receive the professional designation of CM.

     

  • COVID-19 Front Lines: Traci Buran Completes DNP and Opens New Practice Amidst Pandemic

    COVID-19 Front Lines: Traci Buran Completes DNP and Opens New Practice Amidst Pandemic

    The Frontier community is proud to have students and alumni serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the next few weeks, we are committed to sharing their stories in order to provide insight, hope and encouragement. Thank you to all the health care workers who are risking their own well-being daily to serve our nation. Click here to read more stories of courage and dedication. 

    Opening a new practice is always exciting, but even in the best of times, it also comes with some uncertainty. Imagine opening a new practice while completing your DNP and amidst the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. That’s what Traci Buran, MSN, FNP, DNP, Class 34 experienced when her practice, Affinity Family Practice, opened on March 2, 2020, in Cheyenne, Wyo.

    Traci, who is originally from Ishpeming in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, worked as a registered nurse (RN) for 10 years in dialysis, endoscopy, the emergency department, and outpatient surgery. After earning her family nurse practitioner (FNP) degree from FNU in 2018, she worked part-time in an FNP-led clinic in Cheyenne. The decision to open Affinity Family Practice didn’t come until November 2019 when her practice partner Sheriedan Grannan, FNP, presented the business plan.

    “After we talked about mission, vision, values, and goals, and I pondered the business plan at home, I decided to go for it,” Traci said.

    “We started working on opening the practice shortly thereafter. It took us about two months to get the practice open, which required a lot of hard work and many long hours. Our soft opening was on March 2nd through the 6th, and then we opened full time on March 9.”

    Traci, who is set to graduate from Frontier Nursing University (FNU) with her doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree in June, treats acute and chronic conditions in patients of all ages, and provides primary care services such as Department of Transportation (DOT) physicals, immunizations, minor procedures and point of care tests. Enough former patients followed Traci and Sheriedan to Affinity Family Practice to enable the successful launch of the clinic, even with the uncertainty created by COVID-19.

    “The community has been very supportive and excited,” Traci said.

    “As a new practice, there is some trepidation amidst the COVID epidemic. When you are trying to advertise and attract new patients, it is very difficult when people are scared to leave their homes, and we do not want to encourage people to go out or into a medical clinic unnecessarily right now. However, we quickly adapted to offering and completing TeleMedicine visits, which has been a great way to bridge the gap for many patients, and we are still able to provide triage and medical guidance over the phone. We are able to swab patients for COVID if needed, and have offered drive up service to prevent the patient from leaving their vehicle or coming into the clinic.”

    While fully acknowledging the tragic impact of the pandemic, Traci remains optimistic that better days are ahead and that valuable lessons are being learned. 

    “Our healthcare system was woefully ill-prepared to deal with something like this,” Traci said.

    “However, I do believe that our country and world can and will overcome this crisis, and I have to believe that our political and healthcare leadership will work to do so. I think we need to understand that in the future, more vigilant steps should be taken to remain prepared for the next pandemic, and at the very least, a COVID resurgence in the fall — not only on the national level, but in each community and clinic as well.”

    The fact that Affinity Family Practice has enjoyed such a successful launch despite the unforeseen challenges is a testament to the business planning and ongoing marketing of the practice. The ability to adapt to the pandemic and quickly adjust to offering drive-up and TeleMedicine options is indicative of the preparation of Traci and her partners. 

    “I don’t think that anyone was truly prepared for COVID,” Traci said. “However, FNU did do a great job of instilling evidence-based practice and a sense of community into us as students, and I believe that these two principles combined are very powerful tools in the healthcare setting, especially during a pandemic.” 

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