Every year, Frontier Nursing University (FNU)’s diversity initiative sends student PRIDE ambassadors to conferences that highlight diversity in the primary care workforce. At these conferences, including ACNM Meeting & Exhibition and AANP National Conference, FNU creates a strong presence through faculty members, student mentees and booth volunteers providing information to prospective students. FNU made strong showings at the NAHN and NBNA in August (read about it here).
Throughout September and October, more strides have been made through the AAPINA, AAMN and GLMA conferences as well as a project by FNU faculty member Dr. Diane John, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC in providing better care for diverse populations.
AAPINA Conference
Dr. Valentin-Welch and Karen Ojeda at 2018 AAPINA Conference
The 15th annual Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association (AAPINA) conference was held in Durham, N.C. from Sept. 22-23, 2018. FNU PRIDE Student Ambassador Karen Ojeda, along with Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Maria Valentin-Welch, attended the conference and represented the university with information on FNU’s distance education and specialty tracks.
The conference theme, “Local to Global: Future Directions for Research on Health Disparities,” embraced the overall goals that AAPINA has to provide a supportive and inclusive atmosphere, including current statistics and national information on the health status of Asian American/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
Conference workshops focused on healthcare issues facing the AAPI population, information on evidence-based research related to health disparities across the globe and the value of advanced practice opportunities for API nurses.
Attendees were encouraged by the AAPINA President, Dr. Alona Angosta, to carry the mission of AAPINA by addressing the current trends and future directions of health disparity research among API’s within their workplace and communities. The conference gave AAPINA members the opportunity to network and collaborate with nurses and researchers in various healthcare fields.
Frontier Nursing University provided a visible platform at the conference to inform prospective students of FNU’s specialty programs and its diversity initiatives. AAPINA continues to serve as an organization with a mission to increase visibility and diverse collaborations for Asian American and Pacific Islander nurses within the healthcare profession.
AAMN Annual Meeting & Exhibit
FNU PRIDE students at 2018 AAMN Annual Meeting & Exhibit
The 43rd American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN) annual meeting and exhibit was held in Milwaukee, Wis. on Oct. 4-6, 2018. FNU PRIDE members and students Steve Carver and Jason Hone represented FNU as winners of the annual Student Ambassador essay contest hosted by FNU PRIDE. The essay contest is a writing initiative aimed at fostering student-leadership, academic retention, and professional development within nursing education.
The AAMN conference supports the professional growth of men in nursing. Sessions centered on increasing gender diversity in healthcare, and to bring awareness on discrimination towards men in the nursing field.
“Having experienced discrimination…it was heartening to know that I was not alone and that efforts are being made to improve these disparities,” said Hone.
Group discussions also focused on innovative solutions to combat the opioid crisis across the nation. “This event has enhanced my desire to specialize in addiction medicine and to become an active participant in decreasing this [opioid] epidemic and saving lives,” said Carver.
FNU PRIDE member and doctoral student, Homecia St. Clair, presented a poster entitled, “Don’t Push Me! I’m Close to the Edge! A Prospective Study of Depression in Men, Suicide Rates, and How It’s Affecting the Medical Community.”
Citing the fact that suicide is one of the biggest killers of men between ages 20-49, St. Clair’s presentation focused on some of the challenges men face with mental health when trying to seek help.
FNU received interest from prospective students for FNU’s new Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) specialty program, among other programs. The conference also provided a platform to inform students of FNU’s Diversity PRIDE student organization. CNFP students Jean Volm and Rachel Sixberry volunteered to represent FNU at the exhibit booth.
“Working at the FNU booth with other students was great,” said Hone. “Meeting them, hearing their stories, and engaging conference patrons with them was a highlight for me at this event.”
The networking opportunities at the AAMN annual conference continue to serve as a platform to increase FNU’s visibility and diversity initiatives with the organization. “This event has enhanced my desire to earn a DNP from Frontier Nursing University in order to make a difference in my community,” said Carver.
GLMA Nursing Summit
Holly Howell and Bethney Seifert at 2018 GLMA Nursing Summit
The goal of the 36th annual GLMA Nursing Summit that took place in Las Vegas, Nev. on Oct. 10-13, 2018 was to build an inclusive home that promotes capacity building for LGBTQ nurses, nurse allies and nurse supporters.
The summit provides a forum for mentorship, support, and networking to develop and refine skills necessary to promote health equity for LGBTQ individuals. Conference workshops focused on healthcare issues facing LGBTQ nurses and marginalized LGBTQ populations.
Discussions included research related to health equity, awareness of workplace policies for LGBTQ employees, sexual violence among LGBTQ identifying persons, trans-inclusive healthcare, and shared experiences of LGBTQ nursing students during their clinical and educational studies. Attendees were encouraged by Keynote Speaker, Dr. TaMara Griffin, Sacred Soul SEXucator and Holistic Healer, to practice self-care and to heal old traumas.
Two students volunteered to represent the university at GLMA with information on FNU’s distance education and specialty tracks, Holly Howell (CNEP) and Bethney Seifert (CDNP). GLMA continues with a mission to increase visibility for LGBTQ nurses within the healthcare profession.
Dr. Diane John’s research on heart disease in Broward County
Diane Y. John PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC
FNU Associate Professor Dr. Diane Y. John, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC is improving the health outcomes of residents of Broward County, Fla. through a new project to reduce the risk of heart disease. Dr. John and a group of nurse practitioners, supported by the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPFH)/Astellas Promoting Heart Health Across the Age Span Award Program, attend community health events and talk with attendees to help them make positive health changes.
Dr. John’s clinical practice as an FNP includes working with populations across the lifespan, as well as community work with diverse populations. 16% of the people Diane serves are
65 and older; 51% are female; 30% are Black or African American; 29% are Hispanic or Latino, and many are of other minority ethnicities. This population also has a small percentage of persons living without health insurance under the age of 65, with a disability and/or in poverty.
Diane Y. John NP, Vicky Stone-Gale, NP and Diana Arrieta, NP participate in Community Health Fair sponsored by Broward County Public Schools, TRUE Back School Committee, First Baptist Church
Tom Schlepko, NP, Christine Lewis, NP, Jodi Pearson, NP and community advocate Dioxy Herrera participate in The Worshipers House Community Health Event in Hollywood, Fla.
Her project, “Nurse Practitioners’ Influence on Heart Healthy Behaviors,” will integrate motivational interviewing into a community education initiative to help patients change behaviors associated with heart disease.
Thank you to each of our FNU PRIDE ambassadors, students, staff and faculty members for continuing to make FNU’s presence known and respected in these diversity-oriented settings.
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).