The community at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) understands and appreciates the positive role mentorship plays in preparing competent, entrepreneurial, ethical and compassionate leaders in primary care. The University has launched two programs to support underrepresented students, including FNU’s Professional Organization Mentoring Program (POMP) and the Comprehensive Mentoring Program. This blog highlights the details of the programs, and part two will share the experiences of both mentors and mentees.
In an effort to create even stronger interaction and connection between students and faculty, FNU’s Professional Organization Mentoring Program (POMP) was created in 2018. POMP matches FNU faculty with underrepresented nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery students to provide support and mentorship. The program allows students to join a professional organization in their field, as well as gives them the opportunity to attend a professional conference with their mentors, with conference registration and professional membership fees covered. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, POMP has been redesigned to allow participating students to attend conferences virtually with faculty mentor guidance.
Frontier has also launched the Comprehensive Mentoring Program, a pilot program initiated via funds from the Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) grant. This program is designed to support and retain students from underrepresented groups, by meeting their specific professional and academic needs The goal of the program is to form an ongoing relationship between mentor and mentee and expose the mentee to other means of mentoring to continue support and lifelong learning.
While the program is a pilot, it is expected to be fully implemented beyond the NWD grant period.
Expectations for both the mentors and mentees are well-defined and presented to all program participants.
Student mentees are expected to:
- Create an essay to explicate their need for a mentor (no more than 500 words)
- List at least 3 individualized professional and/or program-specific goals
- Meet with the mentor at least once a month for 1 hour for 1 year
- Complete an evaluation of the FNU Comprehensive Mentoring Program every 3 months
Mentors will be expected to:
- Attend one mandatory professional mentor education and training session offered by FNU
- Participate in the mentoring program for at least 1 year
- Mentor at least 2 students
- Meet with mentees at least once a month for at least 1 hour for 1 year
- Document meetings and activities with mentees
- Expose mentees to internal and external professional activities
- Assist mentees with programmatic needs
- Complete an evaluation of the FNU Comprehensive Mentoring Program every 3 months

The implementation of mentoring programs at FNU has positively impacted the retention rate for students of color which is currently 84 percent, exceeding our goal of 80 percent.
Many students like Kimether Redmon have benefitted from the mentoring program.
"For years, I've advocated for mentoring programs wherever I go and have mentored others, but I've never had my own mentor," Redmon said. "It’s very exciting!"
Check out Part 2 of this series which will share more detailed stories of students and mentors.
Benefits of being a Mentee
- Gain practical advice, encouragement, and support
- Learn from the experiences of others
- Increase your social and academic confidence
- Become more empowered to make decisions
- Develop your communication, study, and personal skills
- Develop strategies for dealing with both personal and academic issues
- Identify goals and establish a sense of direction
- Gain valuable insight into the next stage of your university career
Benefits of being a Mentor
- Improve communication and personal skills
- Develop leadership and management qualities
- Reinforce your own study skills and knowledge of your subject(s)
- Increase your confidence and motivation
- Engage in a volunteering opportunity, valued by employers
- Enhance your CV
- Increase your circle of friends
- Gain recognition for your skills and experience
- Benefit from a sense of fulfillment and personal growth
National Midwifery Week
Frances Elizabeth Kramer, who passed away on January 11, 2021, has left a gift that will benefit future 
Frontier Nursing University (FNU)
Since she was young,
This quarter’s 
The American Academy of Nursing


















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).