We were lucky to catch up with Tikisha Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tikisha , thanks for joining us today. When you’ve been a professional in an industry for long enough, you’ll experience moments when the entire field takes a U-Turn, an instance where the consensus completely flips upside down or where the “best practices” completely change. If you’ve experienced such a U-Turn over the course of your professional career, we’d love to hear about it.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing shortages occurred on and off due to factors such as economic downturns, waves of retiring nurses, and increased health care demand. As the pandemic hit in March 2020, nurses, who represent the largest group of health care professionals in the country, already were under strain due to factors such as:

• Retirements outpacing new entrants to the field
• Increased demand for health care from aging and chronic disease populations
• Inadequate workforce support.

During the pandemic, demand for RNs surged. This combined with other existing factors to considerably worsen the nursing shortage and expose the workplace challenges nurses face. Nurses are under immense stress and feel the full weight of an overburdened, poorly functioning health care system.

More nurses will be needed in practice areas such as telehealth, home health, long-term care & rehabilitation, and outpatient care centers.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My Nursing career dates back to 2004. I attended Our Lady of The Lake College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana fresh out of high school, earning my first degree; Licensed Practical Nurse. I furthered my education in 2006 completing a LPN to RN bridge program; Associates Degree. In onward and upward fashion I went on to complete another bridge program; RN to BSN while doing contract work, raising a son, and being a self proclaimed party girl!! My skills have landed me in a variety of Intensive Care Units and Anesthesia Recovery Units. Lastly, I left the beside in 2016 after obtaining an advanced practice nursing degree; Master’s of Nursing with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner. As an advanced practice nurse I have worked in a variety of clinical settings; House calls, retail health, corporate wellness clinic, urgent care, same day walk in clinics, free standing emergency rooms, and men’s health. Whew, I have been doing this nursing thing for quite some time now!!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m currently in the midst of pivoting in all the above!! Right now specifically, I’m in a unique state. I’m transitioning into different seasons, unknown waters, and taking steps to a place I never thought I would be. This, my friends, is pivoting and it’s here, whether I like it or not. Might as well embrace it, right?

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I surely wouldn’t. I don’t have any regrets.

Contact Info:

• Yelp: The Royal Flush https://yelp.to/Ri3QJ4WFPxb