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  • 2019: Year In Review

    2019: Year In Review

    2019 is drawing to a close at Frontier Nursing University! Below are some of our highlights from a truly wonderful 2019. Be sure to watch the “Year in Review 2019” video at the bottom of the post as well.

     

    Commencement

    FNU celebrated its 80th anniversary this year! Commencement took place in Lexington, Ky. for the first time, where 265 graduates attended with their families and friends. We welcomed keynote speaker Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the second woman and the first African American to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. FNU awarded 852 total degrees in 2019.

    Conferences

    Students and alumni represented FNU at a multitude of conferences in 2019, including the 64th Annual ACNM Meeting, the AANP National Conference and the NBNA Conference and Exhibit among many others.

    FNU also hosted its 9th annual Diversity Impact conference in June. Students engaged in open dialogue and participated in interactive activities including storytelling through dance and an exploration of Polynesian culture through creating an extended lei to honor the land.

    Faculty & Staff Accomplishments

    FNU President Dr. Susan Stone was formally inducted into the National Academy of Medicine. She was one of only two nurses inducted and the only inductee from the state of Kentucky. 

    To help meet the needs of students searching for quality clinical sites and preceptors, the Clinical Outreach and Placement Unit was created.

    Several faculty and staff were awarded and honored for their efforts as leaders in nurse-midwifery at this year’s ACNM Conference.

    For the second consecutive year, FNU received the 2019 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award honoring its outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.

    Programs & Events

    FNU hosted virtual events for National Midwifery Week and Nurse Practitioner Week. Faculty members and alumni gave informative sessions on a variety of relevant topics, and many sessions offered continuing education credit for viewers.

    FNU also hosted a one-day virtual event for National Rural Health Day with four sessions on all things impacting rural and underserved communities.

    The 2019 Couriers left their mark on rural and underserved communities during their summer of service, earning recognition from the Kentucky Office of Rural Health, one of the state offices of the National Rural Health Association.

     

    We recognize and honor the past 80 years of impact and growth as we head towards an exciting future for FNU and our community. Here is to a 2019 full of memories and a successful 2020. We’re 80 years down and 80 (and many more) to go!

     

  • Alumni Spotlight: Janice Macopson, FNP-C, DNP

    Alumni Spotlight: Janice Macopson, FNP-C, DNP

    Janice Macopson, FNP-C, DNP, has worked in healthcare for longer than many Frontier Nursing University (FNU) students have been alive.

    For 44 years, Janice has worked in various positions at Carolinas Healthcare System – Blue Ridge, an Atrium Health Hospital in Morganton, N.C. She became a nurse practitioner (NP) in 2001 and began her work at Blue Ridge Cardiology in 2011.

    Janice graduated from FNU in June 2019 as a member of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) class 30. Obtaining her DNP had been a bucket list item for years. She and a friend who was also interested in getting her DNP got together to research potential schools. 

    “My friend told me about this amazing school in Kentucky. I did some research for myself and read about Mary Breckinridge, and I was just taken in. Coming from rural North Carolina and working with women and children, I felt it was ideal – a perfect match for me.”

    After being accepted into FNU’s DNP program, Janice read the required Wide Neighborhoods, Mary Breckinridge’s biography. “I could not put the book down,” she said. “I felt like I was in the trenches with her. It’s almost mystical, when you have a passion for nursing, to read about how passionate she was.”

    As a member of a minority population, Janice was also appreciative of FNU’s emphasis on diversity. “I am an African American and I have been very impressed by how hard the school works on inclusion and diversity,” she said.

    In her current position at Blue Ridge Cardiology, Janice sees adults with coronary artery disease, cardiac illnesses, and other conditions that put them at high risk for heart failure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes and hypertension.

    Janice knows firsthand how difficult it is for diagnosed heart failure patients to understand and manage their condition, so for her DNP project, she implemented the Get With the Guidelines – Heart Failure program into her practice. An American Heart Association program, Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure is an in-hospital program that promotes consistent adherence to the latest scientific treatment guidelines and has shown success in achieving significant patient outcome improvements.

    Janice teamed up with the quality improvement committee at Carolinas Healthcare System – Blue Ridge to implement chart audits and analyze what they could improve upon using the Get With The Guidelines measures. She has been able to take what she learned into Blue Ridge Cardiology and continue to utilize the information she gathered during her project.

    Janice’s continuity advisor Khara Jefferson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, played a major role in Janice’s DNP project. “My weakness was the Internet, YouTube and online classes… it was a challenge for me. Khara was always available to me, answered all my calls and calmly helped me through my planning phase. She was especially patient when it came to helping me through presentations and other things online.”

    We are proud of Janice’s commitment to life-long learning! We’re thankful for her efforts to continually improve herself and her practice to offer the highest quality of care.

  • Alaska Spotlight: Karolina Priebe

    Alaska Spotlight: Karolina Priebe

    Since its foundation in 1939, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) has adopted a mission of reaching rural, diverse and underserved populations. This mission is still being lived out today, where more than 80 FNU alumni are answering the call in Alaska. In the coming months, we will be highlighting several of these alumni who serve in our country’s most remote and unforgiving state.

    Karolina Priebe, DNP, ANP, FNP, Class 17 is the final alumna featured in our Alaska Spotlight series. She is a family nurse practitioner at Solstice Medicine and Wellness in Fairbanks.

    Fairbanks represents the last chance for medical care for many Alaskans living in the extreme northeast regions of the state.

    “We are isolated from other areas of Alaska,” said Karolina. “We are really the northernmost city in northeast Alaska in terms of access to healthcare. We cover thousands of miles of the area.” 

    Born and raised in Poland, Karolina’s family moved to Chicago when she was 16. She eventually became a U.S. citizen and served as a medic in the military where she met her husband. His last station before retiring was Fairbanks in 2015. They fell in love with the community and continue to make their home there. 

    At Solstice Medicine and Wellness clinic, Karolina is the only primary care provider doing family practice daily. She is joined by an internal medicine physician and a physician’s assistant. Many of the patients they treat come from very remote locations and only visit the city once or twice a year.

    “The bush people of Alaska have no roads,” Karolina said of the population made famous by the ‘Alaskan Bush People’ television series. “In summer they get to us via boat or four wheeler, and  in the wintertime many travel by snow machine until they either reach a road system or a small airport. They come to town once every six months or once a year. We address as much as we can in one visit.” 

    That means a lot of acute care and little time left over for addressing lifestyle, education and preventative medicine, resulting in a gap that Karolina is trying to fill.

    Noting a significant issue with obesity in her patient population, Karolina launched an obesity program in August 2018. She devotes approximately half her time providing primary care and the other half on the 60-80 people in the obesity program. 

    “Nobody is doing obesity management. In primary care, there’s no time to address that,” Karolina said. “Weight management is built into my work schedule for patients interested in medical weight loss. I’m treating chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure along with obesity at the same time. It saves the patient time and money.”

    Patients in the program begin by keeping a food journal for a month. Karolina then reviews it and helps them find healthier alternatives to the foods they enjoy. Access to fresh and affordable healthy food is a significant hurdle for many in the community. 

    “There are many components to the obesity problem,” Karolina said. “A lot of my patients don’t have access to proper food. Fresh produce is very expensive here, especially in winter. Our food bank is a great resource but it mainly has packaged foods. A lot of people can’t afford the fresher, healthier foods.”

    Affordability is also an issue when it comes to medical bills and, as a result, many are reluctant to seek the care they need. To help address this issue, Karolina serves on the board of KarmaCare, a local nonprofit that offers people assistance with their bills. Patients who qualify for the program are asked to volunteer in their community. In exchange for their service, KarmaCare will pay up to $4,000 per year toward their medical bills. “That’s the community we have,” Karolina said. “There is a unity of the community in Fairbanks and that’s why we stayed here.” 

    Another challenge facing the Fairbanks community is the limited amount of specialized care, so Karolina and her team arrange appointments with specialty care providers in Anchorage or Seattle. “Thankfully there’s a good working relationship between us and Anchorage and Seattle,” Karolina said. “They are good about working our referrals in. We have to sit on the phone for many hours to figure out where to send these patients.” 

    Karolina credits Frontier Nursing University with helping to prepare her to be innovative and community-driven in her work. “Frontier was all about going where there’s a need and making an impact,” Karolina said. “Every day I’m trying to see how I can help my patients, what’s needed, and how I can make an impact. I’m still trying to figure out how we can make medical care better here. 

    “Frontier is so focused on meeting patients where they are and making improvements in the community,” Karolina continued. “It prepared me to open my eyes to look at bigger issues, to look at what needs need to be addressed in the community to benefit not only the patients but their families as well.”

    Thank you to Karolina, Kristina Amundson, David Moore and Holly Fisk who along with many other FNU alumni are answering the call to serve the underserved in Alaska.

  • Courier Program Featured in The Bridge Magazine

    Courier Program Featured in The Bridge Magazine

    From the very beginning, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) has been committed to serving rural and underserved populations. In 1928, FNU founder Mary Breckinridge established the Courier Program as a way of recruiting young volunteers to serve in Eastern Kentucky. Young people were originally recruited to assist nurse-midwives with everyday tasks, such as accompanying the midwives to home births or grooming and taking care of the horses which were essential for transport. 

    The Courier Program has evolved into an eight-week summer program for college students. Couriers are immersed in the culture of a rural Appalachian community. They spend the summer shadowing healthcare professionals, leading projects and discovering the unique challenges these communities face. 

    The Bridge Magazine, a publication of the Kentucky Office of Rural Health, recently published a wonderful story featuring FNU’s Courier Program. In Training the Next Generation of Rural Health Care Providers, writer Robin Roenker tells the stories of students, clinicians, and community members who have been positively impacted by the program.

    Couriers exit the program freed from the stereotypes of Appalachia they previously had. Molly Craig, a 2018 Courier, said, “I think there’s a lot of stigma about people residing in rural Appalachia. And through the Courier Program, I learned that rural people really shouldn’t be stigmatized, because that oversimplifies and overshadows their realities.”

    Not only are the students transformed through their time in the Courier program, but so are the communities they serve. “Many of the Couriers come to us new to Kentucky and new to the Appalachian culture, but by the time they leave, they’re like family to the people here,” said Ellen Napier, CEO of a clinic for homeless and at-risk citizens.

    Applications for the 2020 Courier Program are now being accepted! Applicants must meet the following criteria:

    • Completed at least two years of higher education
    • Be enrolled in undergraduate-level courses
    • Be between the ages of 20 to 25
    • Have a passion for service and learning about rural health care

    Students from all majors are encouraged to apply, and no formal medical training is required. Learn more at Frontier.edu/CourierProgram or apply now!

  • Featured Preceptor: Ramona Scott, DNP, WHNP

    Featured Preceptor: Ramona Scott, DNP, WHNP

    For the Fall 2019 term, Frontier Nursing University (FNU)’s featured preceptor is Ramona Scott, DNP, WHNP. 

    For 30 years, Ramona has served at Women’s Care Group in Knoxville, Tenn. where she is currently a women’s health nurse practitioner. She sees a wide variety of GYN and OB patients, taking the time to get to know each one and understand their needs. She is also a certified menopause practitioner.

    “Ramona provides excellent care to her patients and it is clear that they place a lot of trust in her,” said FNU alumna Sarah Martina, who nominated Ramona for the award.

    Sarah describes Ramona as a life-long learner committed to providing up-to-date, evidence-based care. Ramona is always looking for new and better ways to help her patients.

    In addition to her clinical work, Ramona is a passionate advocate for the nurse practitioner (NP) profession. She is currently helping to develop a new WHNP program at Tennessee Tech University, and she consistently precepts multiple students every year. 

    “She is an excellent teacher with high standards but is also warm, welcoming and funny! I learned so much from her!” said Sarah.

    Ramona is also an FNU alumna: she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2013.

    Thank you, Ramona, for serving women well and teaching students to do the same!

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

  • FNU Celebrates National Rural Health Day

    FNU Celebrates National Rural Health Day

    On November 21, 2019, healthcare providers and organizations across the country came together to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). Organized by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, NRHD is an opportunity to celebrate the “Power of Rural” by bringing to light the unique challenges that rural communities face and the efforts of rural healthcare providers to address these challenges.

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) participated in the NRHD festivities by offering free online sessions led by FNU faculty and alumni as they discussed how they address unique healthcare challenges faced by people in rural communities.

    NRHD kicked off with FNU alumna and preceptor Estella Wetzel, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, in her session, “Improving Care through Drug Testing Education.” Studies show that misinterpretations of drug test results are quite common and can lead to many negative outcomes. Estella addressed commonly prescribed controlled medications by metabolites to simplify drug test interpretation.

    FNU Dean Dr. Joan Slager CNM, DNP, FACNM went live to present a free Continuing Education Course, “Billing and Coding Tips and Tools: Is There a Hole in Your Bucket?” The workshop focused on how to select correct CPT and ICD-10-CM codes, especially for complex patient encounters, in order to accurately reflect services provided and enhance revenue. 

    Course faculty member Stacie Olson, DNP, PMHNP-BC gave a presentation entitled “Rural Health Opioid Overdose Prevention.” She spoke to viewers about general opioid overdose, public health prevention strategies, and identification of FDA approved medication for treatment of opioid use disorder.

    Our last session, “Midwifery and Women’s Health in the Last Frontier,” was presented by FNU alumna and preceptor Ana Verzone, DNP, APRN, CNM, FNP-BC. Ana drew from her experience as a healthcare provider and educator in Alaska to discuss the unique challenges midwives face providing care for rural Alaskans and the Alaska Native Population.

    Since its foundation more than 80 years ago, FNU has been committed to serving rural communities and meeting their unique healthcare needs. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate NRHD and the Power of Rural!

  • Highlights from the 2019 FL ACNM Meeting

    Highlights from the 2019 FL ACNM Meeting

    Representatives of Frontier Nursing University (FNU) recently attended the 2019 Florida State Affiliate ACNM Meeting on Friday, October 12, in Haines City, Fla.

    Dr. Jane Houston and Dr. Noelle Jacobsen generously hosted an FNU table at the annual event. FNU was the only educational institution with a booth amidst a sea of pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Houston, who serves as FNU’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) clinical director, was able to advise many interested CNM attendees on the advantages of pursuing their DNP. Dr. Jacobsen, a Florida regional clinical faculty (RCF), met with several CNM students to offer support on finding and securing clinical sites and preceptors.

    In addition to selling space, Florida ACNM also raised money by holding a silent auction. FNU pre-clinical Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) student Crystal Norman from Miami won a beautiful midwifery quilt. 

    FNU faculty Meghan Garland, CNM was one of the five presenters at the conference. She traveled from Chicago to give a riveting talk on Physical Activity During Pregnancy: Barriers and Opportunities to Change Behavior. Other conference topics included nitrous oxide, egg preservation, fetal surgery, and breaking the bad news to families. 

    FNU DNP student Minyon Outlaw, CNM, WHNP sold earrings donated by attendees. She was able to raise $200 for Harbor House of Central Florida whose mission is to prevent and eliminate domestic abuse in Central Florida by providing critical life-saving services to survivors. Minyon also earned the newest Florida ACNM honor, the Rising New Star Award, for her work in creating and chairing the ACNM Nominating Committee.  

    The absence of Florida ACNM staple and FNU RCF Dr. Mary Kay Miller was felt as she stayed home with an illness, but many spoke of her recent accomplishment of completing her DNP as well as her decades of work in supporting ACNM.

    Thank you to everyone who represented FNU at the 2019 Florida ACNM State Meeting! Next year, the chapter will celebrate its 50th birthday in Jacksonville, Fla. on October 20, 2020.  Hope to see you there! 

  • Alaska Spotlight: Holly Fisk

    Alaska Spotlight: Holly Fisk

    Since its foundation in 1939, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) has adopted a mission of reaching rural, diverse and underserved populations. This mission is still being lived out today, where more than 80 FNU alumni are answering the call in Alaska. In the coming months, we will be highlighting several of these alumni who serve in our country’s most remote and unforgiving state.

    Holly Fisk, MSN, FNP, ONC, Class 142 is a family nurse practitioner in Anchorage, Alaska where she was born and raised. On November 30, 2018, when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit south-central Alaska, her center’s lobby became a triage center.

    “That’s the Alaskan way,” Holly said of the center’s care for the earthquake victims. “The emphasis FNU places on rural and underserved communities has been helpful for me in this role. We really take care of one another. In rural areas, you have to pull together and have teamwork.”

    Holly and her team at Southcentral Foundation’s Anchorage Native Primary Care Center helped care for the earthquake victims, but additional challenges came in the form of extensive damage to Glenn Highway, one of only two roads out of Anchorage. While Anchorage itself isn’t rural, with a metro population of approximately 300,000, Holly’s clinic serves patients from extremely remote areas, some of which are only accessible by plane. Community health aides in those areas help treat basic conditions and triage those who need to be transported to larger healthcare facilities.

    Southcentral Foundation is part of the Alaska Native Tribal Health System, which works in conjunction with Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal organizations to provide comprehensive health services to more than 160,000 Alaska Native people. The health care provided at Holly’s clinic is prepaid via this system. 

    “We call our patients ‘customer-owners’,” Holly said, noting that essentially all of the patients seen at the clinic are Alaska Native or American Indian people. The clinic serves a population of about 65,000 customer-owners in the Anchorage area. 

    To meet the needs of those patients, the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center is divided into seven distinct smaller clinics. Each clinic has an integrated care team. Holly serves as her clinic’s only nurse practitioner and is joined by two medical doctors, three physician’s assistants, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, an internal medicine physician, pain management, behavioral health consultants and a nurse-midwife. 

    Holly, whose preceptor Christopher Haupt-Chronister, MSN, FNP, Class 71, also works at the clinic, says that while the clinic offers every kind of specialty, the access is limited. 

    “There is not enough access to specialized care,” Holly said. “We have every specialty, but they might come in from another city once a month.” 

    The lack of access to specialty care often results in exorbitant costs of care, which acts as a barrier for many. Some patients go to Seattle instead, finding it more affordable even with flight and hotel costs. 

    According to Holly, her time studying at FNU helped prepare her for the challenges of working with a rural and remote population. FNU’s curriculum includes instruction on dealing with complex patients in rural communities where access to specialists may be sparse. 

    “Our graduates are well-prepared clinicians who are improving healthcare around the country and the world,” said FNU Associate Dean for Family Nursing Lisa Chappell, Ph.D., FNP-BC. “As a Frontier student, you will get to know the needs of your community.” 

    One of those needs for Anchorage patients is mental healthcare. 

    “The biggest need is behavioral health services,” Holly said. “It’s a three-month wait right now for intake. We have behavioral health consultants who bridge the gap until the patient can be seen by a psychiatrist.” 

    Holly notes that the clinic has seen a significant uptick in the number of patients coming in with anxiety, depression and PTSD since the earthquake. The clinic’s behavioral health consultants assist with that, and they have started offering extended appointment times. 

    “Alaskan Native people emphasize relationships, so we provide very relationship-based care,” Holly said. “Most appointment times are 30 minutes. I love that about this place.” 

    Holly’s experience with FNU played a significant role in preparing her for her current career. “FNU did a great job in preparing me for the more holistic and relationship-based kind of care that we do here,” she said. 

    Holly enjoys preventative care and educating her patients while she takes the time to talk to them and to understand their particular needs. Still, when the time comes for more urgent care, the clinic responds quickly to those in need. 

    “We have excellent same-day access,” Holly said. “We keep appointment times open for those types of urgent situations. That’s what we do. It’s the Alaskan spirit.”

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