Frontier Nursing University (FNU) hosted a virtual event this past fall celebrating National Nurse Practitioner Week. FNU’s Empower 2021: Creating a Culture of Caring event, presented by university faculty members along with FNU alumni and students, included seven sessions educating and celebrating nurse practitioners.
There are more than 325,000 nurse practitioners nationwide that go the extra mile each day to provide quality, equitable patient care. These free educational sessions allow nurse practitioners to further their knowledge on the latest practices and topics influencing nurse practitioner care, and a continuing education (CE) opportunity is also included.
These free recorded educational sessions are all available for viewing below:
Assessment and Screening for Substance Use Disorders in the Primary Care Setting
Presented by Dr. Beki Asti and Dr. Nancy Pesta Walsh
The National Survey on Drug Use and Abuse report found that 1 in 12 American adults have a substance use disorder. In order to address the epidemic of substance abuse disorders, primary care nurse practitioners must universally assess, screen, and diagnose all clients. Participants in this session will explore evidence-based substance abuse assessment, screening, and diagnostic tools.
Free CE Session – Novel Treatment Approaches to Substance Abuse
Presented by Dr. April Dobroth
The incidence of substance abuse in the United States has reached epidemic levels. To address this epidemic, advanced nurse practitioners must possess pharmacological competency in the treatment of common substance abuse disorders. Pharmacological treatments for common substance use disorders will be discussed during this session and participants will be eligible for pharmacologic CE credits.
This activity is approved for 1.0 contact hour(s) of continuing education (which includes 1.0 hour(s) of pharmacology) by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners®. Activity ID# 21095172. This activity was planned in accordance with AANP Accreditation Standards and Policies. This activity’s approval expires on October 31, 2022.
Advanced Practice Nurses: Adopting a Health Equity Lens
Presented by Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech
Advanced practice nurses are positioned to play a major role in addressing health disparities and shaping the future of healthcare to ensure health equity. Join FNU for an inspiring session focused on adopting a health equity lens, and walk away with some key actions to take in your own practice or work environment.
Creating a Culture of Impact: Stories of Community Quality Improvement – Alumni and Faculty Panel
Moderated by Dr. Kristin Gianelis
This impactful panel presentation is hosted in collaboration with FNU’s IHI Open School Chapter. Hear stories of FNU’s mission in action through visual storytelling as nurse practitioner alumni and faculty share their community projects and initiatives for serving diverse, rural and underserved populations. After watching, viewers will be inspired by these real-life examples of quality improvement and community impact and leave with ideas to take back to their own community.
Creating a Culture of Community Engagement from a Distance – The Frontier Student Experience
Moderated by Dr. Tia Andrighetti
Frontier Nursing University is committed to students’ active engagement in their coursework with faculty and peers. FNU uses a variety of techniques throughout the curriculum to allow students to do this. Learn about the simulations, role plays, immersive discussions, games, grand rounds and other techniques Frontier currently employs.
FNP Program Q&A – Creating a Culture of Community
Presented by Dr. Katheryn Arterberry and Dr. Lisa Chappell
This session is designed for registered nurses considering the path to becoming a family nurse practitioner. By watching this session, you will find out out about FNU’s distance education program and get the inside scoop from current students about their experience. Hear about the joys and challenges of life as a nurse practitioner caring for families.
PMHNP Program Q&A – Creating a Culture of Community
Presented by FNU Dr. April Dobroth
This session is for registered nurses considering the path to providing mental health care as a PMHNP. Find out about FNU’s distance education program and get the inside scoop from current students about their experience. Hear about the joys and challenges of life as a nurse practitioner.
National Nurse Practitioner Week 
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).