Year of the Nurse and the Midwife | Page 2 | Frontier Nursing University

COVID-19 Front Lines: Amanda Dunham Expands Telehealth Availability

April 29, 2020 By Frontier Nursing University

The Frontier community is proud to have students and alumni serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the next few weeks, we are committed to sharing their stories in order to provide insight, hope and encouragement. Thank you to all the health care workers who are risking their own well-being daily to serve our nation. Click here to read more stories of courage and dedication.

There have been many stories and statements suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it forever. Regardless of what the future holds, Amanda Dunham, DNP, FNP-C, Class 29, said that the call to serve remains the same.

“I think FNU students and alumni are called to serve and COVID-19 is no exception,” said Amanda, owner of Dr. Dunham Integrative Family Health NP, PLLC, a women’s-centered primary care practice in Clifton Park, N.Y.

“We serve our communities. We take care of patients in need. We advocate for people without a voice. Hopefully, that never changes.”

During the pandemic, Amanda’s small practice in upstate New York has taken steps to broaden its reach and help any in the community in need of care.

“Though we typically reserve Telehealth for established patients, I have opened Telehealth services to anyone in need,” Amanda said.

“Children, women, men and older adults needing prescription refills, evaluation for medical issues and even mental health are encouraged to use our services. I have already seen the negative impact social distancing is having on mental health for many people and I encourage patients to use Telehealth if these services are needed.”

A native of the area, Amanda knows the Clifton Park community well. Her practice is located across the street from the local high school. She maintains employment at a local urgent care center in addition to administering her own practice. She is deeply connected to the community and the needs of her patients.

The only nurse practitioner provider at her primary care practice, Amanda also employs a dual-licensed massage therapist/esthetician and a registered nurse. The resulting collaboration results in what Amanda describes as a “whole-person approach to care.”

“My experience at FNU empowered me to be an entrepreneurial-minded health care provider who is dedicated to serving the local community,” Amanda said. “Our goal was to create a patient-centered practice where people could come feel cared for and at home.”

Amanda had to make quick adjustments to that model by expanding the Telehealth options for patients, hoping to reduce exposure while remaining open for those in need of in-person care.

“We hope these measures can avoid unnecessary trips to emergency departments and urgent care centers where patients may be exposed to COVID-19,” Amanda said. “Telehealth is excellent for discussing lab tests, medication management and even to discuss mental health concerns.”

Mental health is a rising concern as the pandemic persists. Amanda said that many patients are worried about being a “well carrier” and passing the virus on to their families without even knowing they have it. Others are dealing with the stress of home-schooling their children while working from home or feeling trapped by not being able to go out for dinner or exercise.

“I’ve seen a surge of depression from isolation and I think many patients are struggling with anxiety,” Amanda said.

“For many patients, they may have no history of anxiety, so this may be their first time navigating those concerns. Additionally, typical coping mechanisms, such as yoga studios and gyms, may not be available. With our patients, we discuss the importance of social distancing, infection control precautions, and of course, self-care for their physical and emotional well being.”

One potential positive outcome of the pandemic is the exposure in flaws and gaps in the healthcare system in the United States and the identification of solutions. In this the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, COVID-19 is making many more people aware of the quality and value of care nurses provide.

“Full practice authority for nurse practitioners across the nation is a must,” Amanda said. “Patients need access to healthcare and nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives are uniquely qualified to minimize the gap in care, increase access and provide quality healthcare that is affordable. I’ve been so proud of my colleagues who are opening their arms and practices to patients in need.”

Though the circumstances may change, for so many like Amanda, the call to serve never does.

2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to support and join the World Health Organization’s international campaign designating 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.” In recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, FNU joins the efforts to raise awareness of healthcare shortages in the U.S. and abroad; demonstrate the need for more nurses and nurse-midwives; educate the public of the value of nurses and nurse-midwives in their communities and advocate for access to quality healthcare for every individual.

FNU Sponsors the 2020 Virtual International Day of the Midwife May 4 – 5

April 28, 2020 By Frontier Nursing University

Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to sponsor this year’s Virtual International Day of the Midwife (VIDM)! In the spirit of the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO), VIDM is a 24-hour free online conference taking place on Monday, May 4 and Tuesday, May 5, 2020, for nurse-midwives and anyone interested in childbirth.

This year, expect to hear from several fantastic keynote speakers and student speakers during the online virtual conference. The live link will appear on the VIDM website closer to its date.

This year’s celebration will kick off on Monday, May 4, with two special pre-conference sessions led by WHO associates:

WHO Chief Nurse and Midwife Elizabeth Iro and WHO Midwifery Advisor Fran McConville will discuss the organization’s guidance on maternal and newborn health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mary Renfrew will discuss sustainability in nurse-midwifery care in a pandemic, on behalf of a group of global colleagues.

The Virtual International Day of the Midwife will feature several informative sessions covering a wide range of subjects for 24 hours on Tuesday, May 5. The free virtual event, which uses online conferencing software, brings all interested in childbirth matters together irrespective of international geographic borders.

FNU’s Jane F. Houston, DNP, CNM, MSN, FACNM will serve as Master Facilitator of this year’s sessions. Dr. Houston has served on the committee for many years and has also participated as a speaker and facilitator. She isn’t the first of the FNU community to participate – in 2018, FNU president and certified nurse-midwife Dr. Susan Stone served as one of five keynote speakers, speaking on the importance of a diverse nurse-midwifery workforce.

This year’s keynote speakers are Sheena Byrom, who will begin the conference, Dr. Vijaya Krishnan, Saraswathi Vedam, and Susan Crowther. See the full schedule of events here.

VIDM is a fantastic learning opportunity and offers a great chance to hear from some of the brightest minds in midwifery. Students, faculty, alumni and the public can tune in for free to the 2020 VIDM on www.vidm.org.

To learn more about FNU’s distance education degrees and specialty tracks, please visit our website.

2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

FNU to Host 10th Annual Diversity Impact Conference as Virtual Event

April 24, 2020 By Frontier Nursing University

The Diversity and Inclusion Office at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is hosting its 10th annual Diversity Impact Conference as a virtual event, June 11-13, 2020. While this is the first year the event is being hosted online, it marks a decade of bringing together national thought-leaders and speakers to engage with the FNU community on important topics facing the nursing and midwifery workforce.

The event opens the door for nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery students to join FNU faculty and staff in collaborative discussions, address health disparities, and find proactive solutions to improve minority health among underrepresented and marginalized groups.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020: Increasing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” going hand-in-hand with the World Health Organization’s designation of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The Year of the Nurse and the Midwife was established to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives, highlight the challenging conditions they often face and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

“The nurse and the midwife roles have morphed, diversified, and elevated to innovative heights over the centuries with cutting edge research, education, practice, and policy on the trajectory of caring for those who are unable to care for themselves and continue to evolve for the cause,” said FNU’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Geraldine Young, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CDE, FAANP.

“We believe in the benefits of a diverse university and the positive impacts our diverse graduates can make in communities across the country,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN. “Our graduates serve people of all races and cultures and are increasingly coming from diverse backgrounds. It is imperative that our students, faculty, and staff have cultural awareness and competency in order to effectively advance our mission of servant leadership.”

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are the keys to the future success of the health care delivery system,” said Dr. Young.

The annual Diversity Impact Conference is open to FNU students, alumni, faculty, and staff who want to become part of FNU’s legacy of providing care to rural and underserved communities. Those that participate will engage in cross-cultural activities and intercultural workshops, along with nurse-leadership strategies on how to effectively care for diverse populations within their communities.

In years past, the Diversity Impact Conference themes have included celebrating 80 years of FNU’s legacy and exploring how to create meaningful connections in diverse communities.

This year’s three-day virtual event is expected to unite more than 100 FNU students, alumni, faculty, staff and community leaders, and will include:

Sessions hosted by nationally recognized nursing leaders
Cross-cultural activities and intercultural workshops
Team-building exercises, cultural competency awareness training, and open dialogues
Virtual networking with FNU students, alumni, faculty, and staff to strengthen collaborative discussions
Nurse-leadership strategies and much more!

FNU students, alumni, faculty, and staff can find out more about and sign up to attend the Diversity Impact Conference at Frontier.edu/Diversity.

2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

Year of the Nurse and the Midwife Spotlight: Stephanie VanderHorst

March 26, 2020 By Frontier Nursing University

Stephanie VanderHorst (left) with grandson Easton and daughter-in-law Leah (right), who is currently enrolled in FNU Class 194.

Stephanie VanderHorst, CNM, MSN, Class 28, had a plan. She was going to open a freestanding birthing center in Auburn, Ind., a rural community of 13,000 people located in DeKalb County, two hours north of Indianapolis. There was no birthing center in the community and she knew there was a need.

As part of her coursework at Frontier Nursing University (FNU), she developed a business plan for the birthing center in 2000. The results were not what she expected.

“I realized my plan for a birthing center in Auburn wouldn’t work,” she said. Working as the manager of the obstetrics department at DeKalb Memorial Hospital, her interviews with patients revealed a glaring problem. “I realized people didn’t know what a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) was.”

Understanding that the reason the plan wouldn’t work wasn’t a lack of need, but rather a lack of awareness, she held onto her dream and took steps to make it a reality.

“I conducted exit interviews with patients postpartum,” she said. “During those exit interviews, I asked ‘What is your ideal birth? When you have your next baby, what do you want the experience to be?’ People started talking about birth centers. In having those conversations, I was able to lay a foundation that there are options.”

It took longer than expected, but her diligence paid off with the opening of the Auburn Birthing Center in 2010. In addition to co-owning the birthing center, Stephanie is employed by Auburn OB/GYN and Midwifery and has privileges at Parkview DeKalb Hospital.

As of March 2020, Stephanie has welcomed nearly 2,000 births. She has also welcomed nearly 30 students, serving as their preceptor and helping her to earn FNU’s Distinguished Service to Alma Mater Award in 2019. Remembering that she had difficulty finding a preceptor when she was a student, Stephanie is happy to serve in this role but also screens prospective students carefully before agreeing to work with them.

“I’m looking for nurse-midwives who are going to grow the profession,” she said. “Precepting is helping to identify midwives who are going to live the profession and provide quality care that is research-driven and evidence-based. I take about one out of every 10 students who come to me.”

Stephanie is earnest about guiding students interested in growing the profession because she herself has become an active leader and advocate for nurse-midwifery throughout the state. She served consecutive two-year terms as the president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives Indiana Affiliate and is on the board of the Coalition of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses of Indiana. She served on a cervical cancer task force and is on the Governing Council of the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (IPQIC) as part of a state-wide initiative to reduce maternal mortality.

“Governor Holcomb wants Indiana to be the best in the midwest in maternal mortality and neonatal mortality rates, and that has launched a huge initiative,” Stephanie said. “We are looking at every birth center and rewriting the policies and standards for birth centers.”

Stephanie, who makes the drive to the state board of health in Indianapolis three to four times per month, studied the state’s policies and utilized resources from the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) and the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers (CABC) as guides to help review and suggest revisions to the the state’s existing policies and guidelines. The collaborative effort led to the creation of a revised document that is scheduled to be reviewed by the state board of health at a meeting in March 2020.

Stephanie described the past six years in these leadership roles as, “Two years of asking what the problem is, two years of exploring what other ideas are out there, and two years of instituting change.”

Estimating that the world needs 9 million more nurses and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030, the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Stephanie’s experiences serve as an example of how nurses and midwives play a vital role in healthcare and why they must be included in policy-making decisions.

“We are the boots on the ground,” she said. “When doctors give direction and say ‘you need to stop smoking or you need to lose weight,’ the nurse-midwife is the one who sits down with the patient and says ‘Let’s talk about it. What’s really going on inside this family? What are the triggers? What are some realistic ways we can make healthier choices?’ We are digging deeper and getting a clearer picture of the situation because we have a little more time to spend with the patient.”

Stephanie said that, as is the case in many communities across the country, there is a shortage of psychiatric-mental health providers in Auburn and across the state. Serving on IPQIC’s maternal mortality review board, she has seen evidence of the impact mental health plays in the overall health of the patient.

“Mental health can have a big impact on these women and them not seeking the help and care that they need,” she said. “Substance abuse, depression, and mental health permeate everywhere.”

With leadership roles as co-owner of a birthing center, preceptor, and active participant in state healthcare initiatives, Stephanie may seem to have been destined for this profession. That, however, was not the case.

“I became a midwife by default,” she said. “As a nurse, I had those rose-colored glasses, but soon realized that some of the nurses were really taking care of the doctors more than the patients. I became more and more disheartened. I had changed as much as I could as a manager. I needed to be a provider.”

She was also helping provide for her family, which at the time consisted of her husband Dean and two sons.

“The only options I had for midwifery school other than FNU were Michigan or Case Western,” said Stephanie, who now has three sons, a daughter, and a grandson. “Do I want to travel every week to Michigan or Case Western or do the distance-based program at FNU? I needed to work. I had two boys at the time and I carried our insurance. I worked throughout the completion of my midwifery program.”

Stephanie credits FNU with helping her direct her passion to open a birthing center by creating a plan that served the needs of the community and could succeed as a business. “The program did well in instilling that there are different ways to practice and finding out what your community needs are,” she said.

She recalled attending FNU’s Midwifery Bound where the attendees shared their dreams and motivations. She remembers both FNU President Dr. Susan Stone and FNU Board of Directors member Kitty Ernst being in the circle. When it was her turn to share her story, Stephanie said, “I’m going to open a birth center in northern Indiana.”

She shared her voice that day with a relatively small group of people. Today, Stephanie continues to share her message with a much larger audience, her voice resonating as a leader, advocate, educator, and caregiver.

What is a Certified Nurse–Midwife (CNM)?

Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) are educated in two disciplines: midwifery and nursing. They earn graduate degrees, complete a midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), and pass a national certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) to receive the professional designation of CNM. Certified Midwives (CMs) are educated in the discipline of midwifery. They earn graduate degrees, meet health and science education requirements, complete a midwifery education program accredited by ACME, and pass the same national certification examination as CNMs to receive the professional designation of CM.

2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to support and join the World Health Organization’s international campaign designating 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.” In recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, FNU joins the efforts to raise awareness of healthcare shortages in the U.S. and abroad; demonstrate the need for more nurses and nurse-midwives; educate the public of the value of nurses and nurse-midwives in their communities and advocate for access to quality healthcare for every individual.

The Importance of the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

February 26, 2020 By Frontier Nursing University

By FNU President Dr. Susan E. Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN

In 2019, the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed that the year 2020 be designated the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife” in honor of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. The designation, which was approved by the World Health Assembly, was made to bring awareness of the importance of nurses and midwives in providing healthcare to populations across the globe.

Why is this important? The reasons are many but begin with worldwide shortages in nurses and midwives. The WHO recognizes the important work of both nurses and midwives in improving healthcare and estimates that the world needs nine million more nurses and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030.

At Frontier Nursing University (FNU), we are very excited by the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife because it provides an opportunity to explicate the role of both nurses and midwives in improving health. In the United States, we have significant health challenges. In many cases, these are getting worse, not better. The maternal mortality rate has risen from seven per 100,000 in 1987 to a current rate estimated at 26 per 100,000. The numbers are even worse for women of color, who die from pregnancy-related illness at three times the rate of white women. Mental health issues plague our country as well. Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States; more than 130 people die each day from opioid-related illness.

Lack of access to primary healthcare, maternal healthcare, and psychiatric mental healthcare persists throughout the U.S., particularly in rural areas. Improving the health of our population begins with an increase in healthcare providers who are well prepared to provide culturally competent primary preventive care as well as the ongoing care of chronic disease. Accessible and high-quality maternity care is critical. The Centers for Disease Control reports that nearly half of maternal mortality deaths are preventable. Changing this picture will take a team of health care providers and that team must include nurses and midwives. A recent study from Johns Hopkins University found that more 250,000 Americans die every year because of healthcare mistakes. The FNU Doctor of Nursing Practice program focuses on improving health care quality. Together we can make a change.

While the bad news is ample, the good news is that we can improve. At Frontier Nursing University we are educating nurses and midwives with the primary goal of assuring that they are well prepared to serve in rural and underserved areas. We must create a diverse healthcare workforce, a workforce that can competently serve persons and families from many different cultures that are representative of our United States. We can do this!

The designation of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife provides an opportunity for us to showcase the role of nurses and midwives. We must educate the public, our legislators, and our colleagues about the scope of practice and qualifications of nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives. We need to assure that nurses and midwives are at the tables when decisions about healthcare are being made. We know that we must change and improve the current healthcare system. We have to be sure that every family and every individual has access to healthcare. We have to be able to provide healthcare in the community, in the home, in birthing centers, in family clinics, wherever it is that families are accessing healthcare.

Throughout the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, we will be promoting the role of the nurse and the midwife and the role of nurse practitioners. We hope that you will view the stories about the impactful work of our graduates, students, and faculty. Join us in promoting midwifery and nursing across the United States throughout the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.