Nakia C. Best is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing. Dr. Best advocates for all students to have daily access to a school nurse. Her research provides valuable insights on how school nurses and the services they provide improve student health and education outcomes. With a deep commitment to advancing the nursing profession, Dr. Best specializes in leveraging data to improve patient outcomes, enhance healthcare delivery, and inform evidence-based practices. Dr. Best’s research was integral in shaping two National Association of School Nurses position statements, guiding national policy and best practices for 20,000 members. She is a nationally-recognized as a leader who leverages statewide school nurse-reported data to demonstrate the impact of health services delivered by more than 1,300 school nurses for 1.5 million students. She is an appointed member of the City of Irvine Health and Wellness Advisory Committee, a board member of the School Nurses of California Foundation, and an Editorial Board member on the Clinical Nursing Research journal. Dr. Best earned her BSN from Winston-Salem State University, MSN in Nursing Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Post Masters in Applied Health Informatics from Johns Hopkins University, and PhD in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.