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  • Faculty Spotlight: Mary Ellen Biggerstaff

    Faculty Spotlight: Mary Ellen Biggerstaff

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumna and faculty member Mary Ellen Biggerstaff, MSN, DNP, has a heart for serving her community struggling with opioid addiction.

    Mary Ellen takes on many roles: she is an FNU regional clinical faculty member for Washington, Alaska and Hawaii; she is an Evidence-Based Practice course faculty member; and she practices in a family clinic where she has served for the past ten years.

    Mary Ellen’s community of Olympia, Wa. was formed as a hub for the logging industry. With the industry’s decline, the community has suffered high rates of unemployment and an economic downturn. This has led to an increase in patients dealing with opiate addictions as they try to cope with their hardships.

    A new resource recently became available to help combat opiate dependency and addiction, and Mary Ellen has embraced it with open arms. Suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine, a narcotic, and naloxone, which blocks the effects of opioid medication, has emerged as an effective opioid addiction combatant.

    Last year, Mary Ellen obtained her waiver to prescribe Suboxone through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)’s 24 hour Suboxone waiver training.

    Soon after she obtained her waiver, Mary Ellen’s practice implemented a low-barrier medication-assisted therapy clinic. The clinic offers daily drop-in hours with a mission of treating addiction with radical empathy and acceptance for patients. A team of experienced registered nurses (RNs) and patient advocates assist the prescribing clinicians in the clinic.

    “Anyone who has worked with opiate addiction knows how incredibly challenging this work can be, not only because of its difficulty in treating it, but the behaviors that go along with the addiction,” she said.

    The clinic puts a strong emphasis on outreach to vulnerable communities, especially homeless and incarcerated populations. Mary Ellen has seen a dramatic improvement in extremely ill patients after only a week or two of Suboxone treatments.

     “Our goal at this clinic is to treat everyone compassionately and meet them where they are to get them the help they need.”

    Mary Ellen obtained her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) through FNU back in 2009. She began working at a family-based clinic where she still serves as a clinician. Ten years at Summit Pacific Medical Center has allowed Mary Ellen to build relationships with patients and have a lasting impact on her community.

    A few years ago, Mary Ellen knew she wanted to take the next step in providing better care to her patients. She enrolled in FNU’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program because of her past success in the MSN program.

    “I’m a big believer in FNU’s mission, and the DNP program worked with both my work schedule and my crazy family schedule,” Mary Ellen said.

    In her role as regional clinical faculty for FNU, Mary Ellen has mentored many FNU students through their coursework and clinicals.

    “I train people to be excellent nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners, especially to rural and vulnerable populations,” she said. “I love to see students I mentored impacting their communities.”

    Thank you, Mary Ellen, for your work with both FNU students and vulnerable populations!

  • Alumni Spotlight: Leslie McCormack

    Alumni Spotlight: Leslie McCormack

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumna Leslie McCormack, CNM (Class 70), is passionate about serving vulnerable populations—and teaching her students to do the same.

    An Arkansas native, Leslie knew she wanted to serve the vulnerable and saw the many opportunities nurse-midwifery offers. Originally, she intended to travel overseas and do mission work. The distance education offered by FNU as well as the ability to work full-time were big factors in her decision to attend, but above all, she loved Frontier’s mission. “It really aligned with my vision of working with vulnerable populations,” she said.

    After obtaining her nurse-midwifery degree from FNU, Leslie worked at a birthing center. As her own family grew, she transitioned from a clinical position to an adjunct teaching position while her husband was finishing up medical school in Fayetteville. After he graduated and was placed in Little Rock, she applied to teach at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and has been teaching undergraduate classes for four years. She is also an academic coach.

    Teaching has given Leslie a unique opportunity to impact students to improve healthcare systems. Her background in nurse-midwifery allows hers to bring her students a different perspective.

    “I really get to empower my students and introduce them to vulnerable populations, especially here in the state of Arkansas where the population is largely rural,” she said.

    Leslie’s current home, Little Rock, has a high population of homeless people due to its central location in a predominantly rural state. Knowing this, aid organizations focus on Little Rock to provide assistance and resources for the homeless. Leslie and her UAMS team partnered with Campus Community Church (CCC) to provide the homeless in their community a meal and a movie every Wednesday night.

    The Wednesday night service led to the creation of a clinic of sorts. UA’s College of Medicine and College of Nursing see homeless patients in an informal, less intimidating setting and provide preventative care. The program is led by students; upperclassmen serve leadership roles and mentor their underclassmen classmates.

    “It’s really cool to see the two colleges working together and to see students in leadership roles, washing the feet of the homeless,” said Leslie.

    UAMS and CCC implemented a mental health night once a month. They also started a ladies’ night which has turned into a reproductive health night, one for men and one for women each semester.

    Recently, Leslie has devoted a lot of time to resource development in the area of homeless prenatal care. 

    “We know that we send a lot of babies home from the NICU to a homeless or housing insecure environment,” she said.

    Leslie and her team received a grant to create a curriculum from the March of Dimes Becoming a Mom program, specifically tailored for the homeless population.

    “I’m finally getting back to my roots in nurse-midwifery, and it’s been a lot of fun,” she said.

    We are proud of Leslie for her work with the homeless in Little Rock and for empowering her students to serve the vulnerable.

  • Alaska Spotlight: Kristina Amundson

    Alaska Spotlight: Kristina Amundson

    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.

    Kristina Amundson, DNP, CNM, remembers vividly her days at FNU. Specifically, she recalls Kitty Ernst’s directive to the class: “Go forth and be a change.” 

    “At the time, I thought, ‘I’m just one person, how can I be a change?’” Amundson recalls. “But it’s just one step at a time. That’s my attitude in providing excellent healthcare. You have the ability to make a difference, so go do it.” 

    Amundson has indeed gone forth and made a change. Originally from Traverse City, Michigan, Amundson was working as a traveling labor nurse when she met the man who would become her husband in Alaska. The year was 2009, and she’s been there ever since, working first as a labor and delivery nurse and then as a nurse-midwife at Interior Women’s Health in Fairbanks. She also has privileges at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. 

    In her decade in Alaska, Amundson has come to realize that education is one of the biggest hurdles to healthcare for many people in the area. 

    “I find that women need increased access to evidence-based care, and the options in this community are sparse,” Amundson says. “The lack of knowledge of the available healthcare options results in a lack of self-advocacy to receive the best care. That’s the biggest thing, and I’m trying to address that.” 

    To address that gap, Amundson became an Evidence-Based Birth Instructor, offering her first class in January 2019. The six-week, evidence-based course teaches families what to expect during pregnancy and childbirth. Early interest came largely from her own patients, but she hopes to expand it to a much wider audience, including fellow healthcare professionals in the Fairbanks area.

    Amundson attends 60-70 births per year and estimates she has a patient population of 40-50 pregnant women in her care at any given time, in addition to providing other women’s health care. Her goal to increase the exposure of her course might well be aided by a network of other FNU graduates who also work in Fairbanks. There are six other FNU graduates working as nurse-midwives in Fairbanks, including her sister-in-law, Courtney Amundson, MSN, CNM, Class 139, and Margaret Rader, MSN, CNM, Class 43, who was also one of Amundson’s preceptors.

    “I think FNU has touched this community in a positive way,” Amundson says. “We have more midwives than obstetricians. If we didn’t have the ability to go to FNU and have extended learning, that wouldn’t be the case here.”

    While Fairbanks is not rural, Amundson notes that many of her patients are from rural areas and have to go to great lengths to see her, some driving from as far as four hours away.

    “There is a high native population here,” Amundson says. “They generally have poor access to healthcare because many live in villages with no clinics or they are closed in on an island.”

    There is also limited access to specialists in Fairbanks. For example, the only access to a child cardiologist is once a month when a child cardiologist visits from Seattle. In some cases, patients have to travel to Anchorage or Seattle to find the specialists they need to see, which, Amundson notes, “can put an extreme financial hardship on a family.”

    Another form of specialized care lacking in availability is appropriate mental health care. Amundson says that patients who are not suicidal and have no insurance are often unable to find help, and patients on Medicaid are put on a waiting list of up to a year.

    “It is nearly impossible to find a place that will accept Medicaid insurance and even harder to find counseling for those who are not suicidal with Medicaid,” she says. “The patients that I see who are most affected by this are women suffering from perinatal or postpartum depression. In Alaska, I find that our incidence for this is a bit higher than the national prevalence. When I was doing my Doctor of Nursing Practice project, I surveyed and screened those seen in my clinic and 49% of women had some form (mild, moderate, severe) of depression in pregnancy or postpartum. I find that I am often prescribing for women who can’t seek care elsewhere. I am always encouraging counseling but the limited access is very problematic.”

    To help address such gaps in access to mental healthcare across the country, FNU launched the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degree path in 2017. Meanwhile, Amundson continues to be a champion for the quality of healthcare being provided in Fairbanks.

    “People here advocate for change,” she says, noting that the cesarean rate is much lower than the national average. “I feel very positive about our community and how we are addressing healthcare issues.”

    Indeed, Amundson and her fellow FNU nurse-midwives of Fairbanks are going forth and making a change.

  • Preceptor Spotlight: Tina Babinski & Kerry Pham

    Preceptor Spotlight: Tina Babinski & Kerry Pham

    At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) Preceptors Tina Babinski and Kerry Pham were honored as FNU’s “Featured Preceptors” for the 2019 Summer Term. Tina and Kerry were nominated by Katrina Kemp (FNP Class 152).

    Both FNU alumni, the duo opened Stand and Delivery Midwifery, a homebirth practice in their Pensacola, Fla. community, two years ago. They reach a client base whose needs were not previously being met in the Pensacola area, which had no birth centers and few non-hospital options. 

    Stand and Delivery Midwifery constantly operates at full capacity as Tina and Kerry take on more patients than planned in an effort to fill the nurse-midwifery void in their community. They frequently travel over an hour to patients’ homes for births, sacrificing time with their families in order to meet their patients’ needs.

    Tina and Kerry have positioned themselves as co-preceptors and, having experienced the struggle of finding a preceptor when they were completing their degrees, have made it a goal to precept as many FNU students as possible.

    “Kerry and Tina willingly took me as a student even though I did not have any labor and delivery experience,” Katrina said. “I am going to be a better Certified Nurse-Midwife because of the time I spent with them in their practice.”

    Thank you, Tina and Kerry, for answering the call to service in your community and inspiring FNU students to do the same!

    Visit Frontier.edu/Preceptors to read about previously recognized preceptors or to nominate a preceptor.

  • FNU Alumni Answer the Call in Alaska

    FNU Alumni Answer the Call in Alaska

    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 our country’s most remote and unforgiving state: Alaska.

    According to the World Population Review, Alaska’s terrain includes 17 of the United States’ 20 highest mountain peaks, as well as 70 volcanoes, more than 3 million lakes, and 3,000 rivers. Many communities are isolated from hospitals and clinics located in bigger cities, and most are inaccessible by road. Mary Breckinridge faced similar challenges when she founded the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) in 1925 in the eastern Kentucky Appalachian Mountains. She overcame the lack of roads by traveling on horseback to reach residents who previously had no access to healthcare.

    Just as in the Appalachians, the remote populations of Alaska were historically only accessible on foot or by dogsled, steamship or train. Today, small aircraft and all-terrain vehicles have allowed the Department of Health and Social Services to set up health centers in 22 communities, which in turn provide itinerant safety net services to 280 small communities and villages. These services include immunizations, education on disease prevention, and promotion of injury prevention and healthy living.

    According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), most of Alaska’s geographic area is designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) based on the lack of primary care physicians, dentists and psychiatrists. 96 percent of Alaska’s landmass and 39 percent of its population falls under this category.

    The HRSA has also designated a significant portion of Alaska as Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUAs/MUPs), characterized by too few primary care physicians, high infant mortality, high poverty or a high elderly population. 95 percent of Alaska’s landmass are MUAs and 78 percent of its population are MUPs.

    Alaska is home to more than a third of all Native American tribes in the United States. These 229 tribes typically live in villages situated along rural rivers or coastline. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) has created a network of primary care providers that reach over 170 of these remote villages.

    Alaska state practice and licensure laws allow for all nurse practitioners to have full rights, a vital freedom in many areas where residents have no access to hospitals and traditional physicians.

    FNU’s emphasis on community-based education allows nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives to train in the same communities where they live and practice. More than 80 FNU alumni practice in Alaska, and their presence has a major impact on its rural and underserved population.

    Be on the lookout in the coming months as we will highlight several FNU alumni serving in Alaska!

    Alaska Spotlight: Kristina Amundson

    Alaska Spotlight: David Moore

    Alaska Spotlight: Holly Fisk

  • FNU Virtual Event to Focus on Healthcare Team Communication and Perinatal Mental Health

    FNU Virtual Event to Focus on Healthcare Team Communication and Perinatal Mental Health

    VERSAILLES, Ky.—National Midwifery Week is the first week of October, and Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is celebrating by hosting a virtual event dedicated to nurse-midwifery. Featured topics include healthcare team communication and perinatal mental health. Nurse-midwives, prospective midwives and others can participate online at Frontier.edu/MidwiferyWeek. 

    From September 29 to October 5, the Empower 2019 FNU Virtual Event: Nurse-Midwives Improving Patient Care Through Teamwork will bring together leaders in nurse-midwifery to present the following sessions:

    Dr. Collins-Fulea will present a certified nurse-midwife-designed quality improvement project aimed at decreasing the length of stay in an obstetrical triage unit. She will discuss how improved team communication and patient engagement and the use of nurse-driven orders decreased patient time in triage and increased client and staff satisfaction. 

    Dr. Lanuza’s session will explore how empowering women through a shared decision-making process, coupled with community collaboration, can improve the implementation of effective perinatal mental health practices in the obstetric setting and society at large. Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) can occur in up to 20 percent of women during the perinatal period and are among the leading cause of complications associated with childbearing.

    The 2019 virtual event is sponsored by Southern Cross Insurance Solutions. National Midwifery Week was created by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) to celebrate and recognize midwives and midwife-led care. ACNM and its 7,000+ midwife members, physicians and women’s health organizations observe National Midwifery Week each year. FNU President Dr. Susan Stone is currently serving as president of the ACNM Board of Directors. 

    Frontier Nursing University is the birthplace of nurse-midwifery in the United States and has 80 years of experience in delivering graduate nursing and midwifery programs. This is the fifth consecutive year FNU has hosted a virtual event in support of National Midwifery Week. 

    Register for the virtual event and learn more at Frontier.edu/MidwiferyWeek. 

  • Jonas Scholar Spotlight: Kamil El

    Jonas Scholar Spotlight: Kamil El

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumna Kamil El, CNM, is obtaining her education with the ultimate goal of sharing her knowledge with future students.

    Kamil received the prestigious Jonas Scholarship to aid in her current studies as a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student at FNU. 

    The Jonas Scholarship program, now in its tenth year, exists to improve healthcare through targeted investments in high-potential doctoral nursing students pursuing PhD, EdD or DNP degrees, whose research and clinical foci specifically address our nation’s most pressing healthcare needs.

    FNU has a history of students receiving the Jonas Scholarship. In 2018, four students received the award for their hard work and ambitious goals to impact their communities.

    When Kamil was completing her clinical coursework during her Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) studies, a classmate recommended she apply for the Jonas Scholarship. Kamil wrote an essay about what she would use her DNP for: to reach and meet the needs of economically, emotionally marginalized people who are on the fringes of society. She chose primary care as her area of emphasis because it encompasses everyone and would allow her the largest scope of impact.

    She was selected as a 2019 Jonas Scholar for the Scholar Priority topic area of Preventative Health DNP. 

    Currently, Kamil serves as a CNM in a small practice in southeastern Pennsylvania. The practice runs out of two offices and offers full-scope midwifery care, including hospital and home birth. She also has the unique privilege of working with the woman who was her nurse-midwife when she had her babies.

    In her practice, Kamil works with historically underserved populations. She believes that educating and supporting people to meet their specific needs is crucial to helping them reach their self-determined life goals.

    Originally, Kamil enrolled in a brick & mortar university in her area. A working mother of two teenagers, she found it difficult to attend classes while still managing her home and professional roles, so she looked for an online program. FNU checked all the boxes and its history of producing so many nurse-midwives prompted her to apply. 

    Now enrolled in the DNP program at FNU, Kamil is enjoying her leadership course, in which she is learning how to look at organizations differently which has helped with her practice’s relationship with their local hospital.

    “The DNP program is pushing me to become a better leader,” said Kamil. “I’m used to staying in the background and putting my head down, but I’m being challenged to engage more on a political stage and with stakeholders in my community to make sure my patients get the kind of care they deserve.”

    Kamil chose to obtain her DNP so she can return to teaching. Before joining her practice, she taught in the Philadelphia public school system. With a DNP degree, Kamil hopes to become an educator at FNU to bring up the next generation of nurse-midwife leaders. She wants to contribute to the diversity impact movement by teaching students from the perspective of someone who has experienced marginalization, both in healthcare and life in general.

    FNU is proud of Kamil for her service to her community and her ambition to impact the next generation of nurse-midwives.

  • Faculty Spotlight: Erin Tenney

    Faculty Spotlight: Erin Tenney

    Frontier Nursing University (FNU) faculty member Erin Tenney (DNP, WHNP, CNM) is passionate about working with rural and Indigenous underserved populations in her northern Wisconsin community.

    Erin began working at FNU in 2016 and served in both didactic and clinical faculty roles. Soon after, she made the transition to full-time regional clinical faculty for the Upper Midwest for the Nurse-Midwifery and Women’s Health programs.

    In her rural northern Wisconsin community, Erin works in a tribal healthcare system where she has served for over 17 years. She practices at several tribal health centers within the tribal healthcare system, making the three-hour commute to her remote clinical site weekly. 

    The Indigenous populations Erin serves in the tribal healthcare system face the traditional challenges to rural and underserved populations: limited access to healthcare, poverty and transportation issues. Additionally, Indigenous people often grapple with intergenerational trauma and the on-going negative effects of colonization. 

    In her doctorate work at FNU, Erin unearthed some research that has become a focal point in her work. A Maori nurse researcher from New Zealand developed the Theory of Cultural Safety. She examined the history of colonization and how it has led to health inequities in Indigenous populations that are still present today. 

    The theory encourages non-Indigenous healthcare providers within Indigenous communities to be self-reflective and sensitive to their position in society, privilege, and the dynamics between the cultures. The patient should be allowed to define what culturally safe care means to them.

    Erin has taken the principles she learned from this theory to heart.

    “I have really made an effort to learn the history, practice self-reflection, and listen to my patients to ensure I’m including any personal and spiritual-cultural aspects that are important to them into their care,” she said. “I also do a lot of work on myself, to know where I come from and who I am in the interaction. I believe this helps ensure that the care I give is respectful.” 

    When she was deciding where to pursue her degree, Erin read FNU’s mission on the website and she was sold.

     “I read the description and it deeply resonated with me,” said Erin. “FNU’s focus on the underserved and rural communities continues to resonate with me today.” 

    In her faculty role at FNU, Erin has been heavily involved in the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative. She is chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Curriculum sub-committee and has focused much of her energy on the FNU mission of building a diverse and inclusive university culture that translates into improved healthcare for underserved populations around the country.

    Erin also presented on cultural safety and Indigenous health as a part of FNU’s 2017 Virtual Event celebrating National Midwifery Week. You can watch her presentation on FNU’s YouTube page.

    Thank you, Erin, for your hard work in your own community as well as at FNU!

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