The DNP Impact: Nurse-Midwives Improving Care for Families

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) was developed to meet the demand for advanced practice nursing leaders in an increasingly complex health care system. Hear from FNU Doctor of Nursing Practice graduates and how their DNP degree was essential to improving the healthcare of their communities. Stories of DNP projects and community outcomes will demonstrate the impact of advancing your education and clinical leadership.

 Click here to learn more about the “Let Our Stories Move You to Answer the Call” virtual event from FNU President Dr. Susan Stone.

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We will be sharing a special message from Kitty Ernst each day throughout the Digital Summit, starting October 1 at 8 a.m.

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Speakers

Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN – President of Frontier Nursing University

Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM has been working in field of reproductive health care for women for over 30 years. She is an early graduate of Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) distance education midwifery program and practiced full scope midwifery care for several years. Believing that having more nurse-midwives would ultimately serve the goal of improved health care outcomes for women, she shifted her focus to the education of nurse-midwives. She has served as President of FNU for the last 16 years. During this time the University has grown from 200 students to the current enrollment of over 1700 students. Dr. Stone continues in the role of FNU President with a goal of improving health care for families through increasing the number of well-prepared nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners.

Deborah Karsnitz

Deborah Brandt Karsnitz graduated from Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in 1992, obtained her MSN from Case Western Reserve University in 1993 and completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of Kentucky in 2008 with a focus on postpartum women and their perception of social support.

Dr. Karsnitz is a Professor at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and currently interim DNP Program Director and Course Coordination for Leadership and Organizational Theory in the DNP program.

Dr. Karsnitz has been a member of ACNM for 24 years, member of AMCB’s exam committee x 5 years and is active in the Research and Dissemination and Quality Committees for ACNM. Dr. Karsnitz is the CNM representative for several national committees, a board member for the Kentucky Coalition for Nurse Practitioners and Nurse-Midwives and serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health.

Dr. Karsnitz publishes and presents frequently on postpartum mental health and other topics concerning postpartum complications. She is a founding member of Postpartum Support Kentuckiana (2006) and staffs the warm-line for the state of Kentucky for women suffering from perinatal mood and anxiety disorders since that time.

Julie Paul

Julie Paul, DNP, CNM, FACNM obtained her BSN from Saint Anselm College. She started her career as an L&D nurse and continued in that position for 14 years before obtaining her MSN. She graduated Frontier Nursing School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in 2006 from the CNEP program. She then went into a full scope midwifery practice. In 2011 she graduated from Frontier Nursing University with a DNP. Upon graduation from FNU, Julie joined FNU as an assistant profession for 3 years. During her time at Frontier she was the Course Coordinator of the Advanced Antepartum Course. In addition to working at FNU, Julie was also working as a CNM hospitalist at South Shore Hospital. Currently, she is the co-director of the midwifery program at SSH. In her free time she enjoys boxing, paddle boarding and spending time with her family.

Victoria Evans

Victoria Evans DNP, MPH, CNM resides in Camden, Maine, and practices midwifery at MaineGeneral Medical Center. She recently completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Frontier Nursing University where she successfully implemented the pain relief option of patient administered inhalation nitrous oxide. Dr. Evans presented the implementation of this project at ACNM’s Annual Meeting and National Conference this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received her MSN in Midwifery and an MPH in Population and Family Health from Columbia University. Her midwifery experience has included inner city obstetrical services, private practices, successful grant writing to fund new antepartum clinics for women below the poverty level, and provided care in family planning clinics. Dr. Evans is the mother of two grown boys, and her spare time enjoys the outdoor activities that Maine has to offer.

Liz Nutter

Dr. Elizabeth Nutter, MAJ, AN, CNM, DNP, RNC-OB, is an active duty Army Certified Nurse-Midwife. She
received her commission in 2001 from the University of Portland, a Master in Nursing from Radford University with a certificate of midwifery from Shenandoah University and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Frontier Nursing University. The focus of her doctoral work is waterbirth. She has two peer-reviewed articles on waterbirth and serves as the Army’s subject matter expert on hydrotherapy use during labor and birth. She is the Vice President of the American College of Nurse-Midwives Uniformed Service Affiliate. She is currently stationed at Fort Hood Texas where she is the Director of the Army’s OBGYN Nursing Specialty Course.

Alisha Wilkes

Dr. Alisha H Wilkes DNP, CNM, ARNP completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice through Frontier Nursing University in December 2016. Her capstone project, Freestanding Birth Centers and Enhanced Care Services in the United States synthesized ground breaking data regarding the services beyond maternity care FSBCs are providing. Dr. Wilkes looks forward to building on this foundation by creating an integrated health and birth center model to serve the needs of the community in which she lives and works. Dr. Wilkes provides full scope nurse-midwifery care in her solo, private practice, Three Moons Midwifery PLLC, including women’s health, gynecology, family planning, maternity, out-of-hospital birth services and more. She guest lectures at local colleges, speaks at community events, and recently co-authored a chapter in a text book focused on birth centers.

Elois Edge