Interview with Karen Slabaugh, March 23, 1979

Partial Transcript: First off could you tell me a little bit about your educational background before you came to the FNS.

Segment Synopsis: Karen Slabaugh talks about earning her associate's degree and working in Costa Rica, where she learned about the Frontier Nursing Service. She talks about what kind of work an associate's degree qualified her for, and talks about her impressions of the FNS prior to going to Kentucky.

Keywords: Associate's degree; Bachelor's degree; Contact; Correspondence; Costa Rica; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Impressions; Local people; Mennonite Church; Midwifery training; Qualifications; State board exams

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Medical education; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing--Study and teaching

Partial Transcript: Well, the, the trai--you went through the midwifery school here.

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh describes in detail the courses students take for both the midwifery and family nurse practitioner programs at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing.

Keywords: Classes; Courses; Delivery; Family nurse practitioners (FNP); Illness; Physical examinations; Training; Tuition

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Maternal health services.; Medical education; Midwifery--Appalachian Region; Midwives--Appalachian Region; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing--Study and teaching; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: With the family nurse practitioner--(coughs)--can you go into detail about what an FNP can do that an RN cannot do?

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh discusses the qualifications and skills of a family nurse practitioner (FNP) in comparison to a registered nurse (RN). She talks about why doctors are required to perform certain duties.

Keywords: Assessment; Doctors; Family dynamics; Family nurse practitioners (FNP); Laws; Medication; Patients; Physical examinations; Physicians; Prescriptions; Protocols; Qualifications; Registered nurses (RN); Relationships; Skills; Training

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Medical education; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing--Study and teaching; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: Okay to g--(coughs)--to go to the midwifery train--or nurse midwifery training, let me put it like that--

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh discusses the skills and duties of a nurse midwife, from prenatal to postpartum care. She talks about the difference between midwifery and natural childbirth, and how midwives help women cope with the pain of childbirth.

Keywords: "Sustaining presence"; Assessment skills; Delivery; Family planning; Forceps; Labor; Medication; Natural childbirth; Nurse midwives; Pain; Postpartum care; Prenatal care; Support; Training

Subjects: Childbirth; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Maternal health services.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Medical education; Midwifery--Appalachian Region; Midwives--Appalachian Region; Pregnancy; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: --(coughs)--For a hypothetical situation, uh, let's say we have a mother--or, or a woman--

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh talks about the types of instruction and recommendations midwives provide for their patients. She talks about the differences between midwives and doctors.

Keywords: Classes; Clinicals; Doctors; Education; Fathers; Fear; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Instruction; Nurse midwives; Obstetrics; Practical training; Prenatal classes; Recommendations; Schedules; Teaching

Subjects: Childbirth; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Maternal health services.; Medical education; Midwifery--Appalachian Region; Midwives--Appalachian Region; Pregnancy

Partial Transcript: Now--(coughs)--is it a, a, a regular part, uh, here at FNS to make the, the parents or the wife and the husband aware of family planning?

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh talks about working at the family planning clinic in Leslie County, and discusses the acceptance of various birth control methods by the local people. She talks about the methods promoted by the Frontier Nursing Service.

Keywords: Acceptance; Birth control methods; Family planning clinics; Family size; Men; Opposition; Recommendations; Religion; Sterilization; Tubal ligation; Vasectomy; Women

Subjects: Birth control--Kentucky; Contraception.; Families.; Family planning.; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Leslie County (Ky.); Maternal health services.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Nurses; Nursing; Pregnancy; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: Well to go back again on, sort of on the midwife and the FNP, the midwife--if, if the midwife does not have family nurse practitioner training...

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh talks about the similarities and differences in skills of midwives and nurse practitioners, and why many patients prefer to see doctors over nurses. She talks about the preparation her training has provided.

Keywords: Acute care; Diet; Doctors; Family nurse practitioners (FNP); Family relationships; Independence; Patients; Registered nurses (RN); Schools; Training

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Medical education; Midwifery; Midwives; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing--Study and teaching; Physicians; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: Well, i, is there anything else about your training, the FNS, the local area, or, or what you plan to be doing that you, you'd like to talk about that I haven't asked you?

Segment Synopsis: Slabaugh talks about how the experience of working for the FNS has prepared her for other jobs. She talks about how the funding for the FNS has changed, and the effects of government reimbursement for medical care. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Costs; Finances; Funding; Government reimbursement; Independence; Isolation; Medicaid; Medicare; Philanthropy; Preparation; Recreation; Third party payment; Unique

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Medical care, Cost of; Medical education; Medicine, Rural; Nursing--Study and teaching; Rural conditions; Rural health services