xt74b853gk57 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt74b853gk57/data/mets.xml The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. 2012 bulletins  English The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletins Frontier Nursing University, Vol. 87, No. 4, Summer 2012 text Frontier Nursing University, Vol. 87, No. 4, Summer 2012 2012 2014 true xt74b853gk57 section xt74b853gk57 FNU

FRONTIER NURSING UNIVERSITY
Summer 2012 n Volume 87 n Number 4

Join us for the 50th Anniversary
of the Mary Breckinridge Festival
(Page 28)

* Frontier nursing university
US ISSN 0016-2116

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to FNU

1

The Journey – Dr. Susan Stone

2

Endowment Campaign Update

8

Dean’s Report – Dr. Julie Marfell

14

Alumni Spotlight

17

Class Notes

21

Beyond the Mountains

22

Field Notes

26

Wendover Report – Michael Claussen

26

Footprints

29

In Memoriam

31

Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin (USPS 835-740,
ISSN 00162116) is published at the end of each quarter by Frontier Nursing Service, Inc., 132 FNS Dr., Wendover, KY 41775.
Periodicals Postage Paid at Hyden, KY and at additional mailing
offices. Subscriptions: $5 per year. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin, 132 FNS
Dr., Wendover, KY 41775.
On the cover: A photo of Mary Breckinridge from the first Mary Breckinridge
Festival in 1962. Wendover Collection.

Copyright FNS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Frontier does not share its donor mailing list.

* quArterly Bulletin

Introduction
to Frontier Nursing University

Mary Breckinridge spent her early years in many parts of the world –
Russia, France, Switzerland and the British Isles. After the deaths of her two
children, she abandoned the homebound life expected of women of her class
to devote herself to the service of others, particularly mothers and children.
Mrs. Breckinridge founded the Frontier Nursing Service in 1925 after
several years of studying and practicing nursing and midwifery in the
United States, England, Scotland and France. It was the first organization
in America to use nurses trained as midwives collaborating with a single
medical doctor/obstetrician, based at their small hospital in Hyden. Originally the staff was composed of nurse-midwives trained in England. They
traveled on horseback and on foot to provide quality prenatal and childbirth
care in the client’s own home. In 1939, Mrs. Breckinridge established a
school of nurse-midwifery. The school provided graduates, many of whom
stayed to offer care to families in Leslie County, Kentucky.
Today, Mrs. Breckinridge’s legacy extends far beyond Eastern Kentucky
through Frontier Nursing University (FNU), which offers a Doctor of
Nursing Practice degree and a Master of Science in Nursing degree with
tracks as a Nurse-Midwife, Family Nurse Practitioner and Women’s Health
Care Nurse Practitioner. FNU has students and graduates serving all 50
states and many countries.
Mary Breckinridge said: “Our aim has always been to see ourselves surpassed, and on a larger scale.” (Wide Neighborhoods, 1952)

www.frontier.edu
How to reach us
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations: Please direct questions,
comments or updates to Denise Barrett, Director of Development, at (662) 846-1967 or send
an e-mail to denise.barrett@frontier.edu.
The Wendover Bed & Breakfast Inn: The Big House, Mary Breckinridge’s home, is a licensed
Bed & Breakfast Inn located at Wendover. For reservations or to arrange a tour, call Michael Claussen,
Development Coordinator, at (606) 672-2317 or e-mail michael.claussen@frontier.edu. Group
tours can be arranged, and we are always happy to set up tours for organizations and educational
programs with an interest in nursing history and Appalachian studies.

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THE JOURNEY
By Dr. Susan E. Stone,
Frontier Nursing University President and Dean

Four new board members bring
valuable experience to FNU Board

T

he growth and long-term success of Frontier Nursing University relies
on a strong and diverse Board of Directors to guide our work. Our
Board of Directors is 100 percent volunteer and meets quarterly to
lay out the strategic plan for our future, evaluate progress on our goals and
review the financial strength of the institution. Board members also give
countless hours between meetings by serving as representatives of FNU in
their communities, sharing the story of Frontier with old and new friends, and
helping to garner increased volunteer and financial support for our mission.
The role of a board member is critical to the University, and we are honored
to welcome four new members to this distinguished group of advisors:

Wallace Campbell, PhD
Retired Kentucky college administrator

Wally Campbell grew up on a subsistence farm in rural Leslie County, Kentucky. He graduated from Berea
College in 1966 with a major in elementary education. He earned a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky
University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in the Sociological Foundations of Education at the University of Toledo in
1972. Early in his career, he was a public school teacher/principal and director of TRIO programs.
Wally held the position of Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean for 31 years.
During his 20 years as the Dean at Alice Lloyd College, he played a major role in the
institution’s successful transition from a two-year to a four-year college. He provided
leadership for the development of baccalaureate programs; recruitment and retention of
faculty; addition of a new library, classrooms and laboratory facilities; and expansion of
scholarships for graduate/professional school. As Dean at Pikeville College for 11 years,
Wally was instrumental in accreditation studies, including approval for the merger of the
College and the School of Osteopathic Medicine. He also led the development of new
majors, academic honor societies, study abroad programs, faculty development, institutional effectiveness
planning and the Booth Scholars Program.
Wally attended the Harvard Institute for Educational Management (IEM) and chaired the Deans Task Force

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of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC); he was active in the Appalachian College Association, Association of Kentucky Independent Colleges and Universities, Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board
and Leadership Kentucky. He is a trustee of the Frontier Nursing Service, a member of the Executive Council of
the Berea College Alumni Association and an officer in the Berea Kiwanis Club.
In 2006, Wally received the CIC Chief Academic Officer Award; he was recently named Dean Emeritus and
awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Pikeville College (today known as the University of
Pikeville). He received the Berea College Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011.
Wally is retired and lives in Berea with his wife, Jane Shivel Campbell. They have one son, Brian.

Eunice K. M. Ernst, CNM, MPH
Mary Breckinridge Chair of Midwifery, Frontier Nursing University

Kitty Ernst is a certified nurse-midwife and a graduate of the Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery (now
Frontier Nursing University) with a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in Public Health. For
a half century, she has been a pioneer in both the field of midwifery and in developing the best care possible
for families in pregnancy and birth. An early president and active member of the American College of NurseMidwives (ACNM), she conducted the first wave of accreditation for nurse-midwifery
education programs and developed the first “What is a Nurse-Midwife?” brochure. As a
practitioner, Kitty served families in capacities ranging from public health nurse-midwife
in the mountains of Kentucky to the home birth service of Maternity Center Association
in New York City. She also directed the nurse-midwifery education program at Columbia
Presbyterian Medical Center.
While starting her own family, she began working as a parent educator, teaching some
of the first childbirth education groups of the International Childbirth Education Association. As a field consultant for Maternity Center Association committed to innovation for the sake of healthy
families, she developed family-centered maternity care provided by an obstetrician/nurse-midwife team at
the Salvation Army Booth Maternity Center in Philadelphia. She designed a project to develop and evaluate
a program of Self-Care/Self-Help Education Initiated in Childbirth and assisted in planning and implementation of the demonstration Childbearing Center at Childbirth Connection. She was co-founder of the National
Association of Childbearing Centers and led the way by inspiring and coaching the many birth centers that
followed.
She conducted a national on-site survey of freestanding birth centers and provided consultation for the
First National Collaborative Study of Freestanding Birth Centers. As Director of the National Association of
Childbearing Centers (NACC), Kitty continued to be a leader in the effort to bring birth centers into the mainstream of healthcare delivery and helped to institute the Commission for Accreditation of Freestanding Birth
Centers. During this time, she also served a term as Vice President of ACNM. During the 1980s, Kitty became
concerned about two issues: the small number of nurse-midwives being educated each year and the fact
that the majority of nurse-midwives were being educated in large tertiary care centers and were lacking outof-hospital experience. To address these issues, she led the design and implementation of the first distanceeducation program for nurse-midwives. This program was later adopted by the Frontier School of Midwifery
and Family Nursing. Kitty occupies the first endowed chair in the profession, the Mary Breckinridge Chair of
Midwifery. She is recipient of awards such as the Martha Mae Elliot Award for Exceptional Health Service to
Mothers and Children from the American Public Health Association, The Hattie Hemschemeyer Award from
the American College of Nurse Midwives, and the Childbirth Connection Medal for Distinguished Service.

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Jean Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN
Chair of the Board, Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation

Jean Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Senior Associate Dean for Health Sciences at George Washington
University and is responsible for developing numerous health professions programs, including programs
for the nurse practitioner, emergency health services and physical therapy. She has provided leadership on
national nurse practitioner issues as President of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioners as well as
President of the American College of Nurse Practitioners. In addition, Dr. Johnson has
served on national committees such as the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Primary
Care Committee, the Pew-Fetzer Patient Centered Advisory Group, the Health Sector
Assembly, The National Capital Area Health Care Coalition, and the Pew Health Professions Commission. Dr. Johnson also serves as the National Program Director for the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Partnerships in Training Program. Consistent with
her commitment to interdisciplinary education, this program prepares people living in
underserved areas to be nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nursemidwives. Through this experience and work done at George Washington, Dr. Johnson
is an expert on the institutional development of online learning. She has just completed a year as a “Scholar in Residence” at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, working to define a program to address the
nursing shortage. Dr. Johnson has worked clinically as a nurse practitioner caring for nursing home residents and underserved communities. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Dean Emerita, University of Washington School of Nursing

Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor in the Department of Family and Child Nursing
and Dean Emerita of the University of Washington School of Nursing. Since the late
1970s, she has led a sustained program of research in the field of women’s health. Her
collaborative, interdisciplinary research has resulted in an improved understanding of
women’s experiences of menstrual cycle symptoms as well as the menopausal transition, including endocrine, social and personal factors influencing symptoms and women’s approaches to symptom management. She has served as an investigator for the
Women’s Health Initiative Study and is named as an investigator for the MsFLASH study
of symptom management approaches for hot flashes and related symptoms. Her work
has advanced nursing care for reproductive aged and mid-life women and has provided
women with a better understanding of their health. In 1989, Dr. Woods and her colleagues established the
first NIH-funded Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Washington School of Nursing.
Please join with me in welcoming these new Board members to the
Frontier family. We look forward to our next full Board meeting, which
will take place at Wendover and coincide with our annual commencement ceremony. It will be a special time to strategize and plan for our future. We are extremely honored for these individuals to offer their service
to Frontier Nursing University!

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Jonas scholars program addresses
nurse faculty shortage across the U.S.

Two DNP students to attend FNU through partnership
The Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence will reach an important milestone this fall, as the third cohort of nursing doctoral candidates in its Jonas
Nurse Leaders Scholar Program brings the program to a national scale.
Launched in 2008 with six scholars in three states, the program now includes more than 200 students in nearly 85 schools nationwide. It is the
largest program addressing the nation’s dire shortage of nursing faculty by
preparing nurses with doctoral degrees to step into this critical role. In 2010
alone, nursing schools turned away more than 67,000 qualified applicants
because of a shortage of more than 1,000 faculty.
The new cohort includes 142
Ph.D. and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) scholars representing
all 50 states, including two students
who will attend Frontier Nursing University. The scholars will be funded
through 2014 with $2 million from the Jonas Center, which the schools
leveraged to raise an additional $1.5 million. The American Association of
Colleges of Nursing will administer the program.
“Our mission is to improve healthcare through nursing, and by reaching
all 50 states, we can improve healthcare for all Americans,” said Darlene
Curley, Executive Director of the Jonas Center.
According to Curley, in addition to growing the ranks of nursing faculty
(as graduates are expected to teach), Jonas scholars also will expand the
number of advanced practice nurses who can serve as primary care providers and healthcare leaders – a vital role as the nation’s healthcare system is
undergoing sweeping transformations.
FNU is honored to partner with Jonas to support our two new scholars,
and our school will provide a matching contribution for the Jonas scholarship money. FNU was asked to recruit DNP students from Alaska and
Idaho, two states which do not have a DNP program. Our distance-learning format and high-quality program made FNU a perfect fit to fulfill the
goal of having a scholar in every state. We are proud to announce that
Tracey Wiese of Alaska and Annette Asper of Idaho will attend FNU on
full scholarship because of this partnership. Profiles of these outstanding
women follow on the next page.

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Fnu
Jonas
scholars
Annette Asper,
BSN, MSN, FNP-BC

Tracey Wiese,
MSN, FNP, SANE-A, PMHNP [c]

In 2005, Annette Asper received her BSN from
Lewis Clark State College (LCSC), Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho, where she served as the nursing representative to the LCSC Associated Students. In 2006,
she completed certification in medical surgical
nursing and, in 2010, she earned her MSN (Family Nurse Practitioner) from Gonzaga University in
Spokane, Wash.
Annette’s DNP capstone project will develop
curricula and a residency practice for family nurse
practitioners, focusing on community-based,
primary care management of musculoskeletal diseases. The projected impacts of this capstone are to increase availability of high quality
community-based care, increase quality of life
and decrease the burden of healthcare costs for
people with musculoskeletal diseases.

Tracey Wiese received her BSN from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and her MSN
(Family Nurse Practitioner) from Frontier Nursing
University. She completed UAA’s Post-Master’s
program in Psychiatric Mental Health Advance
Practice Nursing (PMHNP). She is currently a
primary care provider for the nationally accredited Children’s Advocacy Center in Alaska (CARES)
through the Children’s Hospital in Anchorage.
Tracey’s DNP capstone project will examine the
long-term effects on the health of Alaskan adult
survivors of childhood physical, mental, and
sexual violence and will provide specific recommendations for Alaskan primary care providers in
the recognition and management of this major
public health problem.

go Frontier!
FNU faculty, staff and alumni
showed their Frontier spirit at a
Lexington Legends game, where
Frontier Nursing University was
honored as Community Organization
of the Night. The Legends are a
minor league team based in
Lexington, Ky. Dr. Susan Stone,
FNU President and Dean, gave a
radio interview, and Dr. Julie Marfell
threw out the first pitch.

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Event brings students and alumni together
to discuss diversity and leadership
Frontier Nursing University hosted its second annual Diversity Impact
Weekend on its historical Hyden, Ky., campus May 18-20. The event united
nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner students and alumni for fellowship,
networking and discussion focused on diversity and leadership.
FNU faculty, staff and 20 students and alumni from across the country
gathered to explore topics relevant to the importance of leadership and
increasing diversity in the nursing and midwifery workforce. All attendees
received travel stipends through a grant from the Health Resources and
Services Administration.
Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, Director of the Office of Multicultural
Affairs at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, presented the
event’s keynote presentation, Different Worlds …Same Space. A session
titled Race Matters was presented by Carol Taylor, MSW, Program Director for Comprehensive Family Services at the University of Kentucky, in
addition to several other sessions. Participants also could present their own
topics related to cultural beliefs and health issues in specific demographics.
“It is truly eye-opening and rewarding to see students from so many different backgrounds and cultures unite and share their perspectives and beliefs in an encouraging, open-minded environment,” said Kimberly Trammell, who coordinates the PRIDE Program, FNU’s diversity initiative.
To learn more, visit www.frontier.edu/PRIDE or contact Ms. Trammell
at (859) 963-2902.

*This project is supported by funds from the Division of Nursing (DN), Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), Health Resources and
Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under grant D09HP07973, Advanced Education
Nursing Grants for $1,034,265. The information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the
official position or policy of, nor should any official endorsement be inferred by, the DN, BHPr, HRSA, DHHS, or the US Government.

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FNU endowment
campaign update

Honoring our past, focusing on our future

Your investment in Frontier Nursing University
is an investment in quality healthcare for all

F

NU has embarked on a campaign to raise $10 million to fund a supporting endowment for the University. This endowment will
to MAKe A giFt
provide annual income to support our
Gifts to the endowment can be made
faculty, students and campus, allowing
in cash, gifts of stock, or as planned
FNU to maintain an affordable tuition
gifts/bequests to be realized in the
for our students and continue to innofuture. Pledges of support can be
vate and grow as needed. As we work
made for a period of up to five years.
toward this goal, we would like to celPlease call Denise Barrett, Director
ebrate those donors who are making it
of Development, with any questions
possible with their leadership and gifts
about giving to the campaign at (662)
846.1967.
of support.

The Leadership Council for the campaign consists of volunteers who work
tirelessly with FNU administration and staff to help us meet our goal. We
cannot thank these Leadership Council members enough for giving their
time, talents, and personal contributions to the endowment fund.

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FNU Leadership Council
Betty Brown
Louisville, KY

June and Ken Harmon
Danville, KY

Jane Leigh Powell
Ridgeland, SC

Margaret Campbell
Danville, KY

Nancy Hines
Shepherdsville, KY

Helen Rentch
Midway, KY

Michael Carter
Tumbling Shoals, AR

Frank Hower
Louisville, KY

Linda Roach
Lexington, KY

Peter Breckinridge
Coffin
Chestnut Hill, MA

Lindy Karns
Lexington, KY

Georgia Rodes
Lexington, KY

Fred Keller
Lexington, KY

Sandra Schreiber
Louisville, KY

Elizabeth Kramer
Lexington, KY

Terri Stallard
Lexington, KY

Charles Mahan
Tampa, FL

Mary Frazier Vaughan
Lexington, KY

Greg Couch
Lexington, KY
John Foley
Lexington, KY
Susan Graham
Amherst, NY

Marion McCartney
Washington, DC

Donor reCognition levels
Gifts to the FNU Endowment Campaign are recognized in the
Mary Breckinridge Society at the following levels:
Founding Trustee: $1 million and above
Life Trustee: $500,000 - $999,999
Trustee: $250,000 - $499,999
Ambassador: $100,000 – $249,999
Sponsor: $50,000 - $99,999
Steward: $25,000 - $49,999
Patron: $10,000 - $24,999
Friend: $5,000 - $9,999
Supporter: $1,000 - $4,999

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We are grateful to the foundations and friends who
embrace and support the Frontier mission. We are pleased
to share the stories of two of our supporters, who have
a strong connection to our heritage.

Neel Family Foundation commits $5,000 to name
the Mary Wilson Neel Endowed Scholarship
Mary Wilson Neel’s love of horses and
sense of adventure brought her to southeastern Kentucky in the 1930s to volunteer as a Courier for the Frontier Nursing Service. Mrs. Neel, who was born in
1918 in San Mateo, Calif., and grew up in
Washington, D.C., learned of the Courier
program through her connections with the
Graham family, who are relatives of Mary
Breckinridge. Of course, during her stint
at Frontier, all of the Couriers’ work was
carried out on horseback, which delighted
Mrs. Neel.
After her service as a Courier, Mrs. Neel
married, raised five children and continued her lifelong value of volunteering
with worthy non-profit organizations. She
worked as a candy striper for her local hospital for many years and served on the National Board for the Metropolitan Opera.
Mrs. Neel also passed on her philanMrs. Neel, shown as a Courier, loved the horses.
thropic tendencies to her children. Her
daughter, Wendy Ellsworth, followed in her footsteps and served as a
Courier for FNS as well. Mrs. Neel and her children continue to support
Frontier and other non-profit organizations through the Neel Foundation, which was established by their father in 1961 and has contributed to
Frontier every year since. Most recently, the Neel Foundation has pledged
$5,000 toward the Mary Wilson Neel Endowed Scholarship. The corpus
of this scholarship, which will ultimately total $10,000, will remain permanently invested in the FNU Endowment Fund. Annual growth of the
fund will provide scholarships to FNU students each year. We are honored

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to have the opportunity to award the Mary
Wilson Neel Scholarship to our deserving
students and to simultaneously recognize
Mrs. Neel and her children for their commitment and support to Frontier through
the years.
Mrs. Neel, in a recent photograph

With deep roots in Hyden, Elizabeth Kramer
is inspired to support FNU as a Steward
of the Mary Breckinridge Society
For Elizabeth Kramer, a volunteer on FNU’s Leadership Council,
choosing to support Frontier’s endowment campaign is truly personal.
Mrs. Kramer, who grew up in
Hyden, feels a strong connection to
her hometown in Southeastern Kentucky and to the history of the Frontier Nursing Service. Even though
Mrs. Kramer has lived in Central
Kentucky for more than six decades,
she says, “Hyden has always been
home. That’s my roots.”
And her roots run deep. The city
of Hyden is named for Mrs. Kramer’s great-grandfather, John Hyden, The city of Hyden, Ky., is named for John Hyden, above,
a two-term Kentucky senator from a Kentucky state senator and the great-grandfather of
Clay County who served in the Elizabeth Kramer.
state senate from 1875 to 1879. In
“Hyden has always
1878, Sen. Hyden served as a commissioner representing Clay County
been home. That’s
and helped to form Leslie County,
my roots.”
which was created from parts of
– Elizabeth Kramer
Clay, Harlan and Perry counties. The

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new county was named for Preston Leslie, a former Kentucky governor,
while its county seat was named for Senator Hyden.
Family legend has it that Senator Hyden, who was born in Lee County,
Va., in 1814, moved to Southeastern Kentucky in 1843, distraught over accidentally shooting his sweetheart. In the early years, he settled on Wooton’s
Creek in what is today Leslie County. Mr. Hyden became a successful merchant and farmer and later a successful politician.

Fond memories of the FNS
While Mrs. Kramer never knew her great-grandfather, she is proud to
have grown up in the city that bears his name. When Mrs. Kramer was
very young, her grandfather, H.M. Hensley, bought the bank in Hyden and
put her parents, Harvey and Maude Hensley, in charge. Mrs. Kramer was 3
when she moved to Leslie County at the height of the Great Depression.
She recalls how the Frontier nurses – who had arrived in Hyden just
a decade earlier – made quite an impression on
her as a small child. “I would see them go through
Hyden on their horses and then later in their
jeeps. The horses were something else. We’d all
stand and stop and watch them and see which way
they were going.”
Her prized miniature tea set
She also remembers fondly the Christmas parties hosted by the Frontier Nursing Service at the old Hyden Hospital.
“They invited every child in the county. … They gave us a piece of fruit, juice
and a present.”
She still treasures those toys. “One of my prized possessions is a little
brass tea set. Mother didn’t manage to give that away,” she says with a smile.

Continuing her family’s legacy
Mrs. Kramer comes from a community-minded family. At one point,
when Elizabeth was a teenager, her mother served as secretary/treasurer of
the bus company, the phone company and the church in Hyden and also
was Cashier of the bank and held a position with the Frontier Nursing
Service. After her father’s passing, her mother left Hyden and moved to
Lexington when Elizabeth was 16. But even though she has lived away all
these years, Mrs. Kramer still reserves a special place in her heart for Hyden.
As unofficial family historian, Mrs. Kramer says, “everything I get pertaining to Hyden or Leslie County, into the file cabinet it goes.”
Mrs. Kramer continues her family’s rich legacy in Leslie County through
her support of Frontier Nursing University. Her service on the Leadership

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Council for the endowment campaign and her personal gift to the effort are
testament to her commitment to the mission. Mrs. Kramer, a Steward of
the Mary Breckinridge Society, is leading the campaign to success.
nnn

The FNU Endowment Campaign offers many ways to recognize individuals and/
or families for their connection, service and support of Frontier. Contact the Office of
Development at (662) 846-1967 to discuss potential naming opportunities.

Ulrich chosen for prestigious fellowship

Suzan Ulrich, DrPH, CNM, FACNM, associate dean for Midwifery
and Women’s Health at Frontier Nursing University, has been named one
of only 20 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse
Fellows from across the country for 2012. Ulrich joins a select group of
nurse leaders chosen to participate in this three-year, worldclass leadership development program that is enhancing
nurse leaders’ effectiveness in improving the nation’s healthcare system.
Ulrich has served in many capacities at FNU in the past
12 years and was active on the leadership team that achieved
regional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools: Commission on Colleges as a stand-alone
graduate nursing university in 2005. As chair of the Admissions Committee, Ulrich tripled admissions from fewer than 200 students in 2005 to
more than 600 students in 2011. She is a fellow of the American College of
Nurse-Midwives, and a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor
Society of Nursing, and Delta Omega Honor Society of Public Health.
Begun by RWJF in 1998, the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program
strengthens the leadership capacity of nurses who aspire to shape healthcare locally and nationally.
“I am really grateful for this opportunity,” Ulrich said. “I think it’s going
to be a very exciting – and challenging – three years. I hope it will help me
make a bigger contribution both in and outside of my organization, and
allow me to advocate for nurse midwives in a changing healthcare system.”
Executive Nurse Fellows hold senior leadership positions in a variety
of settings. They continue in their current positions during their fellowships, and each develops, plans and implements a new initiative to improve
healthcare delivery in her or his community.

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DEAN’S REPORT

By Dr. Julie Marfell,
FNU Associate Dean for Family Nursing

Seeds of our successful FNP program
were sown more than 40 years ago

F

rontier Nursing University’s Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
program continues to produce well-prepared graduates. Our FNP
graduates work in all areas of healthcare and provide quality primary care to many families and individuals. The number of FNP students
has steadily grown over the past 14 years, from five students in Class 1 to
nearly 700 FNP students – both full-time and part-time – for the Summer
2012 term. Admission to the FNP track of the Master of Science in Nursing program remains competitive, with more qualified applicants than can
be admitted to the program.
The familiar expression about “standing on the shoulders of giants” aptly
describes the evolution of our programs at FNU. Recently, we were fortunate to reconnect with one of these giants – Dr. Loretta C. Ford – who
spent time as a consultant on our Hyden, Ky., campus more than 40 years
ago. Dr. Ford was part of a team of visiting consultants who entrenched
themselves in the culture of the Frontier Nursing Service, our school and
the Leslie County community during that summer in the late 1960s. They
offered their suggestions and guidance to help shape our Family Nurse
Practitioner program, which became the first FNP program in the country
upon its launch in 1970.
Dr. Ford is a legend in nursing circles. An internationally known nursing
leader, she is revered as the founder of the nurse practitioner movement.
Her collaboration with Dr. Henry Silver led to the creation of the first Pe-

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Frontier Nursing University faculty members Dr. Rhonda Arthur, left, and Dr. Cathy Fliris, right, were honored to visit with
Dr. Loretta C. Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, FAAN, FAANP, when she stopped by the FNU booth at the American Academy of Nurse
Practitioners conference in Orlando, Fla. They presented her with a copy of a newly published book about Frontier’s
history in which she is mentioned.

diatric Nurse Practitioner program in the country in 1965. Her pioneering
efforts gave birth to a profession that is today more than 140,000 strong – a
profession whose ranks are strengthened by the more than 150 new nurse
practitioners who graduate from Frontier Nursing University each year.
Dr. Ford and her colleagues came to Frontier to set forth goals and
objectives and to design conceptual frameworks for developing curricula
for a groundbreaking new program. While spending time at the Frontier
Nursing Service, they also taught and v