Alumna Remains Booster for Nursing Program

Faculty Provide Encouragement, Help Each Student Along Path to Success

October 30, 2024
A photo shows School of Nursing Alumna Nikitia "Niki" Hardwick, wearing a Touro University California Alumni T-shirt representative of her time as a master\'s degree student, as she gestures to the University\'s new branding at the entrance to Farragut Inn on campus, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.
Nikitia "Niki" Hardwick is a Class of 2020 graduate of Touro University California's School of Nursing who credits the faculty and their encouragement for her success both while attending the program as well as since obtaining her master’s degree.

Nikitia “Niki” Hardwick decided after serving others for the better part of two decades that she was ready to do something for herself: Earn a master’s degree.

She wondered whether she was a good fit for the Touro University California School of Nursing’s ADN to MSN program but was assured she was indeed a good fit. Thus began a new phase in her educational journey.

Hardwick (MSN Class of 2020) said she joined the program because she could enter as an associate degree nurse and complete the program with a master's degree, then apply for licensure as a Public Health Nurse and sit for the Clinical Nurse Leader certification.

“But more important than any of these was the persistence of Professor Margaret Pay, who continued to tell me I was not too old, I could do it, and it is never too late,” Hardwick said. “She continually spoke the truth to dispel the lies I constantly told myself.”

Pay serves as an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing.

Opportunity to Enhance Career Options

Hardwick has been a nurse for more than 25 years. She was the senior member of her class when she entered the ADN to MSN program and excelled academically. She was selected as class representative for a cohort that completed the program during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program’s strength, Hardwick said, is its teaching faculty.

“The faculty is simply amazing,” she said. “They are supportive and will provide you with the tools necessary to succeed. The faculty has the success of every student at heart.”

Hardwick remains a booster of the program, in part because it’s an efficient way to enhance professional options.

“It is only 16 months,” she said of the ADN to MSN program. “It provides opportunities for career advancement. It's large enough to be well known but small enough so that your educational experience has a personal touch.”

History of Service to Others Continues

Celebrating 10 Years of Service Touro University California School of Nursing Established 2014Hardwick is a licensed Public Health Nurse, and a certified Clinical Nurse Leader who obtained her Associate of Science in Nursing degree in 1999 and has been serving the greater Bay Area community ever since.

She initially served for more than 15 years as a nurse at San Francisco General Hospital in a succession of roles. She joined Solano County Health and Social Services in 2017 as a Senior Clinic Registered Nurse in Fairfield. It was during her time with Solano County that she completed her master’s degree.

New career opportunities soon arose.

Hardwick transitioned to the role of contract Diabetes Support Coach in 2021 at Stanford University. She served concurrently for a time as a BSN Instructor at Unitek College, a position she held for more than a year.

Hardwick more recently served Solano County Health and Social Services for just shy of two years in Fairfield as a Public Health Nurse home visitor for the Maternal/Child Health program. She currently serves as a Public Health Nurse Case Manager for Solano County Child Welfare Services, serving medically fragile children in foster care. She started in her new role in May.

She attributes her more-recent service to completion of the ADN to MSN program.

Dr. Prabjot “Jodie” Sandhu, Director of the School of Nursing and Assistant Dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences, said she is proud to have alumni, including Hardwick, serving as mentors to current students and offering workshops in leadership and writing to continue giving back while also leading the way for others.

“This connection with our alums is invaluable and the opportunity for them to come back and teach or mentor with us is a full circle of accomplishment, resonating with our mission at TUC: To serve, to lead, and to teach,” Sandhu said.