The DNP Impact: Nurse Practitioners 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.

The session video will be available on this page at the scheduled date and time. In the meantime, we invite you to click here for a video from Dr. Julie Marfell, Dean of Nursing at Frontier Nursing University, to learn more about FNU’s “Stories that Inspire: A Call to Action for Nurse Practitioners” virtual event.

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Speakers

Julie Marfell, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAP (Moderator)

Dr. Julie A. Marfell, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP has been a family nurse practitioner (FNP) and educator for 22 years. She completed the Doctor of Nursing(ND)/Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) with a specialty as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the Department of Community Health Nursing at Rush University in 1994. Dr. Marfell has been a Registered Nurse for 36 years and was an expert critical care nurse and nurse manager prior to completing graduate school.

Dr. Marfell is the Dean of Nursing at Frontier Nursing University (FNU). She has been at Frontier since 1999 and led the implementation of the Community- based Family Nurse Practitioner Program (CFNP). She led the CFNP curriculum including development of content and multiple courses before becoming the dean. Dr. Marfell assisted with accreditation achievement for the FNU Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice Programs and initial institutional accreditation and reaffirmation of the university. She successfully led the reaccreditation achievement for the Post MSN Doctor of Nursing Practice Program.

Dr. Marfell continues to care of families as an FNP in a primary care setting. She has worked in different primary care areas and has spent over 10 years work in pediatric settings. Dr. Marfell organized and led a nurse practitioner run clinic for the homeless residents at Interfaith House in Chicago. She served as the Executive Director of Frontier Nursing Healthcare for two years and is currently working as needed in a convenient care clinic.

Teri Peak

Teri Peak is currently employed as a Family Nurse Practitioner for a General Surgery Group/Bariatric Surgeon/Wound Surgeon practice at a small community hospital in a rural Michigan community. Her position was developed to help the Bariatric practice grow which was difficult to do based on the current appointment structure and hospital responsibilities. The hospital responsibilities include assessing patients in a clinical setting, diagnosing medical conditions in anticipation of surgical intervention, completing physical assessments, admitting, consulting and discharging patients to and from the hospital, obtaining biopsies, and completing excisional debridement’s at the bedside.

The office includes two different practices: General and Bariatric surgical patients. General surgery patients involve completing surgical office procedures, monitor medical conditions – diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia; completing dressing changes and procedures, prescribing medications including narcotics, ordering and interpreting laboratory and radiographic studies, and completing history and physicals while obtaining consents in anticipation for surgery. The Bariatric surgical patient is similar with the exception of preparing patients for surgery which includes six to nine months of appointments as per insurance directive. This involves a weekly agenda of two days of patients specific to her schedule and coordinating with two bariatric surgeons in an effort to complete surgery in a timely manner as per insurance specifics and office/surgeon recommendations. Each office day previously included 24-26 patients scheduled to be seen by both a provider and registered dietitian for a 20-minute visit. That has now changed to shared medical appointments, two per day, two days a week which provide increased education in reference to diet, activity, surgical information, and behavior modification for six months prior to surgery.

Judy Sieg, DNP, APRN-C, FNP, PCCN

Judy Sieg is a DNP graduate of Frontier Nursing University and is currently working as a Family Nurse Practitioner throughout the State of Indiana focusing on preventative health care. She also volunteers on the Indiana Healthy Weight Initiative (IHWI) policy making group and worked with the Indiana Chronic Disease Advisory Group in hopes to improve population health throughout the state. As a doctoral prepared nurse practitioner she testified in a special state legislative session to improve healthy food access to the population.