UCLA Doctor of Nursing Practice student Lexi Harris selected for Los Angeles NAPNAP scholarship

Doctor of Nursing Practice student Lexi Harris hopes to improve care for pediatric patients through education, advocacy, and compassion. 

Her passion for pediatric hematology began long before she became a Doctor of Nursing Practice student at the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing. We often learn from those who come before us, and for Harris, that person was her mother, a pediatric hematology nurse practitioner. Growing up, Harris accompanied her mom to nursing conferences and community outreach events, where she met children living with sickle cell disease and the families who cared for them. Those early experiences opened her eyes to the importance of advocating for children with complex medical conditions and inspired the path she follows today.

Now working as a registered nurse, she has the opportunity to care for many of those same patients. When a six-year old patient with SCD refused to wear the obnoxious pulse oximeter for his treatment, Harris met him where he was. 

“I’ll only wear that if you make it look like a ninja turtle,” he told her. 

Plastering on a green smiley face sticker on the oximeter, the young patient no longer minded as much as they did before and wore it for the rest of the day. It was moments like that that made pediatric nursing so meaningful.

"Moments like this fuel my excitement to continue in the hematology/oncology field as a pediatric nurse practitioner," Harris said.

She believes that caring for children means more than just providing clinical treatment but rather helping them feel safe with the unfamiliarity that comes with being so young. Finding small ways, she said, can make difficult moments for them a little easier. Sometimes, something as little  as a green sticker can completely change a child’s experience.

Working with children living with sickle cell disease has also shown Harris the challenges many families continue to face.

"I have heard countless stories from families about the inequitable treatment and barriers they face regarding their healthcare," Harris said. "I wanted to do more for these patients."

That desire led her to join Children's Hospital Los Angeles' Sickle Cell Nurse Champions Program, where she gained specialized training to better support patients and serve as a resource for fellow nurses.

"The program has solidified my desire to continue to specialize in the pediatric SCD population in the nurse practitioner role, where I can have a greater impact on the trajectory of their healthcare," Harris said.

As a Doctor of Nursing Practice student at UCLA, Harris plans to focus her doctoral project on improving adherence to iron chelation medications by addressing barriers to medication access while helping patients and caregivers better understand treatment.

"I believe there is a need for more healthcare providers who are well-educated on treating these patients and, most importantly, who are willing to serve as an advocate in their care," Harris said.

Outside of the hospital, Harris volunteers with Sunshine Kids and contributes to the HeadStart 4 research study, which focuses on children with medulloblastoma. Her commitment to caring for children through clinical practice, research, and community service recently earned her the Los Angeles National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) Scholarship. The award recognizes her dedication to pediatric nursing and will help ease the financial burden of graduate school, allowing Harris to devote more time to her education, clinical training, and community outreach as she prepares for a career advocating for children with complex medical conditions.

"After graduation, having a reduction in student loan burden would allow me to make a career choice with less financial stress, providing further motivation to work in community settings with underserved populations," Harris said.

For Harris, every interaction with a child is an opportunity to build trust. Whether it is transforming a pulse oximeter into a Ninja Turtle or advocating for families navigating sickle cell disease, she hopes to make every child feel seen, safe, and cared for.