It’s the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife: Get the 411 on Becoming a Nurse-Midwife

This session is for current midwifery students or anyone who is considering nurse-midwifery. Get the inside scoop from current midwifery students about their experiences as an FNU student.

At the completion of this session, you will:

• Understand FNU’s approach to midwifery education
• Gain answers to some of the FAQs related to midwifery education at FNU.

Presenters

Jeneen A. Lomax, DNP, APRN, CNM

Dr. Jeneen Lomax is a faculty member at Frontier Nursing University and a certified nurse-midwife with over 19 years of women’s health experience. She is a three-time graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. She worked in several different practice settings such as community hospitals and large academic hospitals; private practices; and federally qualified health centers. Prior to her faculty appointment at FNU, she has had the pleasure of working as an assistant professor teaching several graduate level courses in an FNP program ranging from Advanced Pathophysiology to Women’s Health Therapeutics and Management Across the Lifespan. Dr. Lomax has been a clinical preceptor for RN, APRN, and medical students for over 10 years as well as teaching resident physicians the management of low-risk obstetrics and family planning. As full-time faculty at Frontier Nursing University, she has taught NM 700 Role of the Nurse Midwife in Healthcare Delivery Systems and NM 701 Women’s Health. She is currently the Course Coordinator for NM/WH 717 Comprehensive Final Review course and one of the CNEP/WH Clinical Bound Team Leaders. Her goal as an Advanced Practice Nurse, nurse-midwife, and academic faculty is to uplift and empower others to reach their greatest potential.

Tonya Nicholson, DNP, CNM, WHNP-BC, CNE, FACNM

Tonya Nicholson is the Department Chair of Midwifery and Women’s Health for Frontier Nursing University. She has a rich history with FNU as a midwifery graduate in 1999, the first DNP graduate in 2009, and a WHNP graduate in 2011. Tonya served the women of central Florida in full-scope practice from 2000-2006, where she also directed the midwifery service. In 2006, she joined the Frontier faculty and then became the Program Director in 2010 and the Associate Dean in 2015. Tonya currently practices part-time in her hometown of Dublin, GA. She has a variety of teaching experiences, but the majority has been focused on the prenatal period and in clinical courses. Tonya is very interested in communication and civility at the individual and institutional levels and focuses most of her scholarship and speaking in this area.

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Student Panel

Jamilla Webb, BSN, RN

Jamilla Webb is a first year Nurse-Midwifery student at FNU. She is also a Registered Nurse, certified doula and writer based in New Orleans. She is the founder of HER Health Nurse. She loves to travel, read, listen to indie hip hop and jazz and is beyond passionate about young women’s health. Jamilla currently works as a Labor and Delivery Nurse, and is an associate editor with ANTIGRAVITY Magazine.

Sunoz “Sunny” Soroosh, RN, MPH

Sunny Soroosh is a Registered Nurse and a Nurse-Midwifery student at FNU. She was inspired to become a midwife by her grandmother, who was a midwife at the largest public women’s hospital in Iran. She is originally from California, and has lived in New York City for 10 years. Sunny has a BA in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s in Nursing and a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University. She is the recipient of the 2019-2020 NYC Midwives Scholarship, Nurses Educational Funds Scholarship, and Lisa Ross Memorial Scholarship from the American Association of Birth Centers. Sunny has traveled all over the world. She worked as a Birth Assistant at the ACAM birth center in Guatemala and at the renowned Holy Family Birth Center on the Texas-Mexico border. She has also been featured in Vogue, Time Out New York, and the Huffington Post for her reproductive rights activism.

Erin Hanks, RN, IBCLC

Erin Hanks is a Registered Nurse and Nurse-Midwifery student at FNU. She is from Charlotte, NC, and has been a bedside nurse for 18 years with that time in NICU and Labor and Delivery. While she loves all aspects of women’s health, the 4th trimester holds a special place in her heart. She and her husband Erik have three kids who keep them busy, especially now with remote learning, and a big ol’ senior dog named Timber.

Cheryl Appleton, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM

Cheryl Appleton is a Registered Nurse and Nurse-Midwifery student at FNU and is 1-2 terms away from finishing her master’s degree. She came to FNU as a second-career nurse with a background in both labor and delivery and maternal fetal medicine nursing. Cheryl’s experiences working with low income, low resource women in Baltimore, Maryland are what inspired her to become a nurse-midwife, and she is looking forward to serving this population. Her activities outside of FNU include working with ACNM’s National Government Affairs Committee and Affiliate Development and Support Committee, and serving as Class 176’s CNEP Student Council Representative.