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) Preceptor Meg Ferguson, CNM, was honored as FNU’s “Featured Preceptor” for the winter term. Meg, who graduated from FNU in 2016 (Bridge Class 111), was nominated by Stephanie Brooker (CNEP Class 154), who graduated with her MSN in February.
For over five years, Meg has served patients in Alaska at Women’s Health Specialist as a Certified Nurse-Midwife. While some of her patients are from urban areas, she also serves clients from distant Alaskan regions.
Many women from remote areas can only make it for visits a few times over the course of their pregnancies. Meg is always very understanding of their situations. She makes sure to work around their schedules so they can make it to appointments and that she can have time to counsel them. She goes above and beyond to bring care to these women in underserved areas of Alaska.
Not only is she flexible and understanding, but Meg is also very highly regarded in her community for her personable bedside manner and down-to-earth attitude. She easily connects with patients and families to make them feel valued and well-cared for.
“I don’t know how she does it but she has this knack for remembering personal details about each patient and making each mom feel like they are special,” said Stephanie.
Another quality Stephanie appreciates about Meg is her honesty. Meg doesn’t hesitate to tell her students that they will face many challenges as nurse-midwives, but she also shares about how rewarding her career is.
“Some people would be too prideful to share the good, the bad, the ugly, but she shares the realities of this new career; she knows it has its challenges, as well as its joys,” said Stephanie.
To Stephanie, Meg is more than just a teacher, but a friend and counselor. Meg’s honesty helps Stephanie feel that she can come to her with any worries about her work.
“I feel like I can talk with her about the struggles and fears that I’m experiencing. She gives me her shoulder to cry on advice that keeps me going,” said Stephanie.
Stephanie is so grateful to Meg for her guidance and support. Not only did she gain confidence, but she received valuable feedback that will help her grow into an excellent nurse-midwife, just like Meg.
“I am one of the luckiest Midwifery students. I am so grateful that Meg agreed to take on another job training me to be the future of midwifery!” Stephanie said.
Thank you, Meg, for being such an excellent example to our students as they enter their careers!
Go here to read more on previously recognized preceptors, or to nominate a preceptor.
Because Frontier has such a unique distance learning model, it is critical that FNU faculty are up to date on best teaching practices for distance learning. The CITL provides resources and training for faculty on ways to incorporate effective teaching strategies, such as active learning, in a distance learning format. Faculty and Staff learn about these innovative practices and new educational technology through the faculty focused newsletters. The CITL even creates student focused newsletters to ensure that all parts of the Frontier family are receiving the best possible information on educational advancement. 
“I love the ongoing impact I have in my community,” said Marie of the important work she is doing for victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. 
“After being a nurse for over 20 years I knew I wanted to make an even bigger impact in my community,” Marie said.
Francis works primarily with women of the 
Francis stated that one thing she loves most about FNU is its “mission to service underprivileged communities.” She also is grateful for the 
FNU has always focused on providing care to rural communities and underserved populations. This mission and the University’s focus on diversity and inclusion will be the foundation for FNU’s 9th annual 
In 2018, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) celebrated its 10th anniversary of the 
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).