Program Design

Frontier Bound Orientation

All students are required tp come to Hyden, Kentucky for Frontier Bound, an orientation to the Frontier Nursing University (FNU). During the three (3) day session, students meet members of their faculty and staff, their advisor, and their fellow students. Time is spent learning skills needed for distance learning, making lifelong friends, reviewing courses, asking questions, and beginning to plan how to be a Frontier student after returning home. Frontier Bound is an experience in fun, learning, and friendship. During Frontier Bound, students stay on the historic FNU campus and are pampered with delicious home-cooked meals. Students must attend all Frontier Bound sessions in order to be eligible to enroll in their selected program of study.

Levels I and II: Foundations for Practice and Clinical Management for Specialty Care

Students complete coursework for Levels I and II in their community. This web-based course of study is completed in 4-8 terms depending on whether the student is full-time or part-time. Students are in frequent contact with their faculty and fellow students through e-mail, forums and phone. They also receive guidance and support from their Student Advisor and Department Chair.

Clinical Bound

Clinical Bound is designed to develop and validate beginning clinical skills. Students return to Hyden, Kentucky for this eight-day skills-intensive experience. During this period the student is validated as having acquired the skills necessary to begin a community-based clinical practicum. There is also time for informal communication between faculty and students. A maximum of 25 students may be accommodated during each of the Clinical Bound sessions offered 6-8 times each year.

Clinical Practicum

After attending Clinical Bound, students begin their clinical practicum. Students provide nurse practitioner or nurse-midwifery services in their community for four to ten months under the guidance of a master clinician preceptor. The FNU Regional Clinical Coordinator (RCC) will provide guidance and support during this time to the student and the preceptor. In addition, the RCC evaluates both the clinical site and preceptor to insure excellence before the student begins the clinical experience. There are required clinical experiences that will assist the student in developing necessary clinical skills. Students may choose, or be required, to use more than one clinical site in order to receive a variety of clinical experiences. Where the volume of clients will not make the experience goals possible, the student will be expected to use more than one clinical site.