Cara Busenhart,
RN,CNM, MSN
Education Program Director
Clinical Instructor
(913) 588-3354
cbusenhart@kumc.edu
Cara A. Busenhart joined the KU School of Nursing faculty in February 2009 as a clinical instructor. In May 2009, she was named director of the Bi-State Nurse-Midwifery Education program at KU. Prior to her position with KU, Busenhart was a clinical instructor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She also has worked as a certified nurse-midwife and an obstetrics/gynecology registered nurse.
Busenhart is a member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, Sigma Theta Tau International and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. She is Chair of the Kansas Affiliate of ACNM. Busenhart also sits on the planning committee for Women’s Health Care Symposium and Title X Family Planning Clinical Conference.
Terrah Pendarvis Stroda, RN, MS
Clinical Instructor
(913) 945-6819
tstroda@kumc.edu
I have always wanted to deliver babies. As a teenager growing up in a small town I remember walking by the hospital and saying to myself, “I will deliver babies there someday”. Little did I know that one day I would be the first Certified Nurse-Midwife to practice in that rural hospital.
After realizing at such a young age that my professional calling would involve women’s health, I have since spent many years honing my skills. I started my journey in health care as a certified nurses aide at the ripe age of 16, and it was in that role that I recognized nursing as the conduit to my long-term plans. As a BSN student at the University of Kansas School of Nursing I found midwifery in a “light bulb” moment of matching my philosophy in caring for women with my professional pursuit in medicine. After graduation in 1999 I returned to my hometown of Junction City, Kansas, working towards improving patient care and learning as much as I could, as fast as I could. Bedside labor support was my favorite role as a registered nurse, but I still felt that something was missing. I wanted to care for the women I met on Labor & Delivery full-time; from prenatal visits to postpartum, and throughout their lifetime. I understood what the women in the community wanted, what was needed in terms of resources and education, and yet felt like I wasn’t helping enough at the end of my shift. In 2001 it became clear to me that midwifery school was my next step, and I started my graduate work in the midwifery track at the University of Kansas full steam ahead. As it was always my intention to deliver babies there, I returned to Junction City after completing graduate school in August 2003 to practice midwifery. This was not an easy task but it was well worth the hard work. With a phenomenal preceptor in Dr. Anwar Khoury by my side, and by hearing Dr Ginger Breedlove’s expert midwife-coaching in my ear, I was finally able to reach my goal. At the age of 25 I became the first certified nurse-midwife to have a full-scope practice in Junction City, KS. I was delivering babies at Geary Community Hospital. After several years in that extremely rewarding practice, I moved back to the Kansas City area once again; this time to get married and start a family. I joined the full-scope midwifery practice at Women’s Care, PA in Overland Park, Kansas in May 2005 and continue my work as a CNM there today.
I have always wanted to deliver babies. I still enjoy delivering babies. I have been blessed to be present for many amazing births, including those of many family members and friends. There is no greater experience that bonds women together than helping each other during life-changing moments; childbirth is just one of them. Finding resources to help women succeed when they’re struggling is an underlying ambition. Another objective I have is to improve health care by being politically active. I am currently the local ACNM Chapter V-18 Legislative Liaison and have recently been appointed to the KS Board of Nursing Advanced Practice committee as a CNM liaison. It is my intention to use these roles as extensions of midwifery; to be an advocate for women and families, as well as for nurses and midwives. At the end of the day, though, my greatest joy is spending time with my husband and our son, Braedon, born in 2007.
Sharon Foster, CNM, MN
I have 20 years experience in maternal/child nursing. I graduated from the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing with a certificate in nurse-midwifery and am certified by the American College of Nurse Midwives. Previous to that, I attained my MN from the University of Kansas and my BSN from Wichita State University. My clinical preceptorship of nurse-midwifery students for this program will originate from Associates in Women's Health, P.A. in Wichita, Kansas.
Marilyn Maier, CNM, MSN
I am a native Kansan and was born in Russell where I grew up on our family farm. Since childhood, I witnessed and assisted with many animal births, and that is the foundation for my love of babies and the natural-birth process.
I earned my BSN from Fort Hays State University in 1976 and my MS in parent-child nursing from the University of Colorado in 1979. For the next twenty years I taught parent-child nursing at Fort Hays State University and thoroughly enjoyed doing so.
In 1997 I left Kansas to attend East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina and earned a post-master's certificate in nurse midwifery. Following graduation, I practiced nurse-midwifery and also held a joint appointment within the Schools of Medicine and Nursing at East Carolina University to teach parent-child nursing to undergraduate nursing students.
Longing to return closer to home, I accepted a position at Samuel U. Rodgers Community Health Center in Kansas City Missouri where I currently provide full scope nurse-midwifery practice with deliveries at Truman Medical Center. I also provide midwifery services for Platte County Health Department in Platte City and Riverside, Missouri.
Marcia Ann Schlotman, MSN, CNM
I have been a registered nurse since 1972, and attained my MSN and CNM from Yale University in 1974. My teaching experience includes instruction at Loma Linda University School of Nursing in California and at St. Louis University School of Nursing Nurse-Midwifery Program. Over 20 years of nursing experience in the US military has enhanced my knowledge of diverse geographic areas including Missouri, Louisiana, Nebraska, California, and New York. I precept student nurse-midwives of this program thorough my full-scope nurse-midwifery work at Samuel U. Rodgers Community Health Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kim Anderson
, MSN CNM
Kim has been providing maternal child services to the women of Missouri for over twenty years. She received her BSN in Nursing from Central Missouri State University in 1982 and a Master of Science in Nursing (specializing in Midwifery) from the University of Missouri in 1999. She has practiced midwifery in a variety of environments, from rural Alaska to urban Kansas City. She is Vice-President of Chapter V-18 American College of Nurse-Midwives and active in maternal child issues in the greater metropolitan Kansas City area.
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