National Midwifery Week is the first week of October, and Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is celebrating by hosting its annual virtual event dedicated to nurse-midwifery on October 4-7. FNU’s Empower 2021: Creating a Culture of Caring event will mark the seventh year of a program filled with impactful sessions, motivating speakers and a complimentary continuing education opportunity.
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 6,500+ midwife members, physicians and women’s health organizations observe National Midwifery Week each year.
FNU’s virtual event offers five free sessions presented by FNU faculty and alumni on the latest practices and topics influencing nurse-midwifery care and includes a continuing education opportunity:
Creating a Culture of Innovative Quality Improvement
Monday, Oct. 4 at 6 – 7 p.m. EDT
Moderated by FNU Associate Professor Dr. Tia Andrighetti and co-presented by FNU faculty members Dr. Tanya Belcheff, Donna Barisich, Dr. Lisa Huckaby, Dr. Maria Mock, Dr. Eileen Thrower and Vicki Burslem.
Births can be unpredictable and midwives need to be prepared for rare events that can have harmful effects on clients. In order to keep these skills honed, nurse-midwives need to practice reacting at the moment to complications. This session will include a birth complications simulation and participants will spend time working with peers to tailor the simulation to their birth settings.
Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 6:30 – 8 p.m. EDT
Presented by FNU alumnus Dr. Daisy Goodman.
This interactive session will explore key elements, implementation guidance, and metrics associated with the 2021 revision of the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) Care of Pregnant and Postpartum People with Substance Use Disorders Patient Safety Bundle.
Creating a Culture of Impact: Stories of Community Quality Improvement – Alumni & Faculty Panel
Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 6 – 7 p.m. EDT
Moderated by FNU Assistant Professor and ACNM President Dr. Cathy Collins-Fulea. The panel will include FNU faculty members and alumni: Dr. Melva Craft-Blacksheare, Dr. Minyon Outlaw, Dr. Dee Polito, Dr. Ana Verzone, Dr. Shaughanassee Vines and Dr. Kate Woeber.
Dr. Collins-Fulea will moderate this panel presentation in collaboration with FNU’s IHI Open School Chapter. Participants will hear stories of FNU’s mission in action through visual storytelling as nurse-midwifery alumni and faculty share their community projects and initiatives for serving diverse, rural and underserved populations.
Creating a Culture of Antiracism
Thursday, Oct. 7 at 5 – 6 p.m. EDT
Presented by FNU Assistant Professor Dr. Charlotte Morris.
During this educational session, Dr. Morris will inspire participants to take action and implement change in their practice or work environment to build a culture that is inclusive and caring for all.
Nurse-Midwifery Program Q&A – Creating a Culture of Community
Thursday, Oct. 7 at 6 – 7 p.m. EDT
Presented by FNU faculty members Dr. Jeneen Lomax and Dr. Eileen Thrower.
This session is for those considering becoming a nurse-midwife. Participants will learn about FNU’s nurse-midwifery education program and hear from current midwifery students about their experience. Presenters will also discuss the joys and challenges of life as a midwife.
The theme of this year’s virtual event, Empower 2021: Creating a Culture of Caring, acknowledges Frontier Nursing University’s culture of caring which is built on five main elements: professionalism, inclusivity, respect, positive communication and mutual support. Students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors and others in the FNU community embrace this culture to fulfill their full potential, both individually and collectively, exemplifying the caring behaviors they hope to bring to the broader healthcare system.
Frontier Nursing University has more than 80 years of experience in delivering graduate nursing and midwifery programs.
Those interested in participating in Empower 2021: Creating a Culture of Caring, sponsored by Southern Cross Insurance Solutions, are asked to register at Frontier.edu/MidwiferyWeek.
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).