At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented community of students, graduates, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to work with all people, with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities.
Leatrice Gachette, MSN, APRN, CNM, exemplifies a strong commitment to education, mentorship, and service, both through her clinical work and through her role as a preceptor. Gachette serves as a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) with AdventHealth in Winter Haven, Florida, where she works primarily with underserved and low-income women and families, many of whom face barriers to consistent healthcare access. She earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Midwifery from FNU and is currently pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) at Frontier.
In her practice, Gachette provides compassionate, culturally-sensitive, and patient-centered midwifery care that includes prenatal, birth, postpartum, and gynecologic services. Her work helps bridge healthcare gaps, ensuring that every patient feels heard, respected, and supported throughout their reproductive health journey.
Going beyond her clinical work, Gachette said her decision to become a preceptor is rooted in gratitude and a desire to give back.
“I am the midwife that I am today because several elder midwives decided to take me under their wings and guide me in my clinical experience,” she said. “I decided to become a preceptor in order to give that same gift to other students on the journey I once had to travel.”
She said she is also motivated by a broader vision of the profession and its role in addressing maternal outcomes in the U.S.
“Mentoring in this way allows me to help nurture the development of compassionate and culturally competent midwives of the future,” she said.
To date, Gachette has precepted two FNU students. She said she finds deep fulfillment watching their growth, especially during moments of realization and confidence-building. These “aha” moments, she said, are a major motivator in her precepting journey.
“I also love to see how they bring themselves to midwifery; guiding them as they discover how to provide midwifery care while still showing up as their authentic selves,” she said.
Lawrena Govan, a former student and now mentee of Gachette’s, said her mentor embodies the core values of midwifery: compassion, equity, and advocacy.
“She is deeply committed to serving marginalized communities and goes above and beyond to ensure her patients receive respectful, holistic care,” Govan said. “As a role model and mentor, she not only uplifts her patients but also inspires future nurse-midwives through her dedication, skill, and unwavering belief in birth justice.”
Precepting, Gachette notes, is a reciprocal experience: one that continues to shape her professional growth. She said she learns just as much from her students as they learn from her.
“Precepting can be as beautiful as birth,” she said. “Just as you serve as a guiding light to mothers as they discover and utilize their power to bring forth life, you guide students as they discover and bring forth their power to do the same.”
Thank you, Leatrice, for your dedication to mentorship, your commitment to equity in care, and your ongoing service to students, patients and the midwifery profession.
To read about previously recognized preceptors or to nominate a preceptor, click here.
Are you interested in becoming a Frontier preceptor? Learn more here.
FNU Preceptor Cassandra Klakken Viramontes, ARNP, FNP, provides care for area residents at the Grand Coulee Clinic in Washington. The clinic provides comprehensive health care, including family medicine, preventative care, and disease management, and is part of Coulee Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital.
In the world of healthcare, there are individuals who go beyond their job descriptions to make a lasting impact on their patients and the next generation of professionals. Deena Parsons, CNM, with TriHealth Associates in Ob-Gyn, is one such individual.
Frontier Nursing University graduate Bailey Desin, PMHNP, FNP, has been instrumental in helping FNU students grow into confident and skilled practitioners. Working at Mission Health’s Sweeten Creek Mental Health and Wellness Center in Asheville, North Carolina, Desin regularly 
Growing up in her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Sandi Mellor, DNP (Class 30), APRN, FNP-BC, knew at a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare so she could “help people get healthy and stay healthy.” Determined to do just that, she took a medical-surgical nursing class while still in high school. After high school, she worked towards her associate degree in nursing and worked as a nurse for three years for the National Health Authority in Bedford, England, where her husband was stationed as a member of the U.S. Air Force.
After many years of compassionately serving patients as a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and educating nursing students and new nurses, FNU graduate Alneader (Neada) Kenner-Woodard recently started 
Lance Briggs has shown dedication in his work as a preceptor at FNU, consistently working to help students integrate their knowledge and build confidence in their practice. His commitment to providing a safe and supportive environment for budding mental health and psychiatric nurses is evident, displaying a passion for helping incoming psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) shorten the gap between learning and feeling confident in their abilities.
For James Flint, becoming an FNU preceptor was motivated by the challenges he faced during his own education. As a PMHNP student, Flint found securing a preceptor to be one of the most difficult aspects of his training. His desire to ease this burden for current students led him to take on the role, aiming to reduce the stress and frustration associated with finding preceptors.
Despite her many responsibilities in addressing the healthcare needs of her local community, Michelle Quale dedicates time to passionately mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals through precepting. Based in Glencoe, Minnesota, Quale serves as a family nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife at Glencoe Regional Health, working with a rural population. Her diverse role includes family practice, the birth center, the wound center, urgent care, hospitalist duties, and providing healthcare services to the local jail.
Dr. Jennifer Carter, who earned both her MSN and DNP from Frontier Nursing University, has over six years of experience as a preceptor. Driven by a commitment to educate future nurse practitioners while serving her patients and community, Dr. Carter finds precepting to be mutually beneficial, noting that it allows her to grow in my own practice and facilitates her own continuous learning.