Master of Science in Nursing | Page 6 | Frontier Nursing University

What Is an MSN?

May 29, 2018 By frontieredu

What Is an MSN?

At Frontier Nursing University, our mission is to empower our students to better themselves and advance their careers through high-quality, flexible nursing graduate degree programs. If you’re a registered nurse and you’d like to take your nursing career to the next level, our Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program offers you a flexible, convenient option to earn a graduate nursing degree almost entirely online.

Our Master of Science in Nursing Program

Just like all of our nursing degree programs at Frontier Nursing University, our Master of Science in Nursing program is geared to make it easy to earn your MSN degree. We offer full-time or part-time programs, and we make it easy to complete your coursework online. You can participate in our MSN program from anywhere in the U.S., completing your clinical practice right in your home community, and we require only two brief on-campus stays to complete the program.

So what can you do with an MSN degree from Frontier Nursing University?

Our focus is on flexibility and career advancement, so with our MSN degree program, you can continue to a wide range of nursing careers, including:

Nurse-Midwife (CNM)
Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner (WHCNP)
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)

In addition to going directly into these professions, we also offer the option to continue your studies and enter our Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program directly. With this option you won’t have to apply a second time, and you’ll be able to earn your nursing doctorate degree with the same online, flexible format as in our MSN program. Ready to take the next step in your nursing career?

Apply for a Master of Science in Nursing Program Online

Earning your MSN degree is an investment in yourself that will pay off for the rest of your life – and at Frontier Nursing University, we make it possible on even the busiest schedule. Apply online for our MSN program today. We’ll help you understand the process and support you continuously as you earn your Master’s in nursing and beyond!

Alumni Spotlight: Donna Bredenberg, APRN, FNP-BC

April 11, 2018 By frontieredu

Donna Bredenberg, APRN, FNP-BC celebrates her roots as a native Appalachian and Frontier Nursing University (FNU) graduate in a role that serves an urban population of patients. Growing up just 20 minutes away from the American birthplace of midwifery and family nursing in Hyden, Ky., Donna left the Appalachian region for undergrad but returned to the area to attend Frontier for her MSN program, where she graduated in 2014. Now, Donna serves urban youth and adult patients as a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

In her role, Donna, a current DNP student, works with outpatient pediatric oncology patients in a clinic that functions as a primary care setting, chronic care clinic, infusion center, and urgent care. But her team doesn’t just serve pediatric patients – they see many adult patients, and Donna is thankful for her family nurse practitioner certification that allows her to properly care for adults in a pediatric setting.

Donna’s passion lies within improving the care of the adolescent and young adult population at the clinic. She previously participated in a multi-site study on symptom assessment of palliative care pediatric and adolescent oncology patients. Her newest research focuses on improving the assessment of sexuality and romantic relationships among adolescent and young adult cancer patients.

She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association of her undergraduate alma mater.

When making the decision to further her education, Donna decided to pursue an MSN because she wanted to see patients of all ages steer their own healthcare through education, support, and empowerment. While she could have received that nursing education anywhere, Donna chose Frontier because it was home.

“Being Appalachian meant I had to move away from home to get a college education,” Donna says. “Going to Frontier meant coming home to further that education.”

Donna was encouraged to apply and then eventually precepted by an FNU Certified Nurse-Midwife who opened her eyes to the world of advanced practice nursing. She embraced that world through her time at Frontier, and now brings an exceptional combination of urban understanding and advanced nursing care to her patients every day.

“The mountains will always be a special part of my life, and now they are a special part of my education, too.”

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 health care to underserved and rural populations.

Alumni Spotlight: Laura Willis, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CMSRN

November 16, 2017 By frontieredu

A student who “fell in love” with the Frontier Nursing University (FNU) mission statement years ago is now living it out as a Family Nurse Practitioner in rural Ohio. Laura Willis, a 2014 graduate of the MSN program and 2015 graduate of the DNP program at Frontier, treats underserved, underinsured patients out of Urbana Family Medicine and Pediatrics through Mercy Health Physicians Group in Urbana, Ohio.

Laura chose Frontier for her FNP because she believed strongly in FNU’s mission statement: to educate nurses to become competent, entrepreneurial, ethical and compassionate nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who are leaders in the primary care of women and families with an emphasis on underserved and rural populations while embracing a culture of diversity and inclusion.

“I couldn’t imagine attending any other program,” said Laura.

She began practicing at Urbana Family Medicine one day a week, treating patients of all age groups as well as many multi-generational families. Realizing her love for the work and the people, she returned to FNU for a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.

“I chose to get my DNP so that I could enhance my ability to improve the health of my patients, increase the understanding and ability of NPs to provide great care, and to affect positive changes in healthcare,” said Laura.

Because so many have costly and low-coverage insurance, Laura works to maintain the health of her patients by using low-cost medicines available at local pharmacies, home remedies, and an extra dose of compassion.

In 2013, her third year of the MSN program, Laura was the recipient of FNU’s NP Leadership Scholarship bestowed to a student who shows leadership, academic excellence and excellent clinical judgement. On Sept. 21, 2017, at the provider’s group annual dinner, she also received the Service Excellence Advanced Practitioner Award, a peer-chosen honor recognizing leadership, clinical skill, service, and dedication to the mission of Mercy Health.

Laura remains supported by the Frontier community as she transitions from student to alumnus. She relies on the connections of faculty, staff, students and alumni that have become colleagues to help push her and offer her a listening ear.

She also recently accepted a position at Mercy College of Ohio in Toledo as an adjunct professor in the Master’s of Science in Nursing program. Additionally she works with a publishing company as a freelance clinical editor for nursing books.

“Both of these things keep me busy but also keep me plugged in to academia and will hopefully help me reach my goal of one day teaching at FNU,” said Laura. “I credit what I learned at FNU with the ability I have to work so closely with my patients and help them find cost-affordable ways to treat their health concerns. I just hope that I would make Mrs. Breckinridge proud!”

Laura, you make the Frontier community proud every day! Thank you for continuing to put FNU’s mission into practice.

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 who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

Student Spotlight – Roxanne LaPointe, RN

September 26, 2017 By frontieredu

Frontier Nursing University (FNU) student Roxanne LaPointe, RN doesn’t use her nursing education in a hospital or a traditional health care facility. Instead, Roxanne takes her talents to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, where she cares for elderly and chronically ill inmates.

“I chose Frontier because they believe in underserved populations,” she said. “I decided to pursue an advanced degree so that I could do more for my patients.”

Roxanne is pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) at Frontier to become a Family Nurse Practitioner, which will enable her to do the work she is truly passionate about.

Her patients include approximately 1,500 men from ages 18 to 80. On a daily basis, she addresses a wide range of illnesses in the correctional facility’s 20-bed infirmary. Roxanne, also a FNU Wide Neighborhoods Ambassador, has worked at her current position for over five years. She is working to make her profession more recognized in the medical world.

“I help give a voice and advocate for those who are forgotten and thrown away by society,” she said.

To that end, after she graduates with her MSN this year, she has decided to pursue a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from FNU.

Why Frontier? Frontier is “real and gritty,” said Roxanne, just like her work. Through her dedicated efforts, an education from Frontier is helping her make a difference.

Thank you for your diligence in serving a truly underserved population. We are proud to have you as an FNU student!

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 who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

Post-Master’s DNP Student Spotlight: Gabrielle Sauder MSN, BSN, PNP-BC

September 11, 2017 By frontieredu

When Frontier Nursing University (FNU) Post-Master’s DNP student Gabrielle Sauder heard of a job opening for the Pediatric Care-A-Van, a program at Norwegian American Hospital in Chicago, Ill., she knew she had to check it out. With a focus on health prevention, the Pediatric Care-A-Van is just what it sounds like – healthcare on wheels, provided for children in the community who have a barrier to health care access consider adding financial barriers as well. Soon after she started and based on her beginning success on the Care-A-Van, the hospital asked her to also start a Pediatric Restorative Care Dental Van. She was put in charge of starting a new program from the ground up and soon realized she would benefit from an advanced degree.

Gabrielle Sauder accepts American Hospital Association (AHA) NOVA Award

Already a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with a master’s degree, her position quickly required leadership skills that piqued her interest in obtaining her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.

“I wanted a good return on investment,” said Gabrielle. “FNU stuck out to me as having a program that would give me the skills I’m looking for in management – and it was affordable. I also really liked the fact that there was a Post-Master’s DNP that I could complete in a short time-frame.”

Gabrielle’s hard work ethic is paying off. Her Care-A-Van program recently won an American Hospital Association (AHA) NOVA award. Only five awards are given annually to AHA member hospitals and health care systems that show leadership by providing collaborative health care that improves community health status.

Out of hundreds of applications, a large reason Care-A-Van was awarded was because of its dramatic increase in patient numbers and services over the past year and its work in the community.

“When I first started this position, the hospital had recently changed to a nurse practitioner led model,” said Gabrielle. “With this new structure, we doubled patient volume and quadrupled services, all with the same operating budget. Nurse practitioners are leaders and by combining medical expertise, leadership and a passion for serving others, we have been able to prove this model works.”

Gabrielle is set to graduate with her DNP in December 2017.

“The experience at FNU has been outstanding,” said Gabrielle. “I’ve learned exactly what I was hoping to, and I am really blown away with how well they utilize technology. It really is like being a part of a community even though courses are online.”

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to serving the underserved, Gabrielle. We are proud to have you as an FNU student!

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 who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.

What Is an MSN?

Alumni Spotlight: Donna Bredenberg, APRN, FNP-BC

Alumni Spotlight: Laura Willis, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CMSRN

Student Spotlight – Roxanne LaPointe, RN

Post-Master’s DNP Student Spotlight: Gabrielle Sauder MSN, BSN, PNP-BC

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