Kalisha Bonds

PhD, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC , Doctoral (Alumni)

Kalisha Bonds,  PhD, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC is currently pursuing a PhD at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Bonds received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She received a Master of Science in Nursing at Vanderbilt University specializing as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Ms. Bonds’ research focuses on the mental health of African American dementia dyads (e.g., person with dementia and their caregiver), beginning with early diagnosis and treatment. She has an interest in understanding the dyadic decision-making surrounding formal medical service use.

She began her career as a medical-surgical nurse in pediatrics and adolescence at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. After a few years of working with adolescents diagnosed with mental illnesses, Ms. Bonds’ passion for mental health burgeoned. Changing her focus from adolescents to older adults, she became the full-time psychiatric consultant in long-term care and assisted living facilities providing counseling and managing the treatments of older adults with mental illness. Currently, she is an Instructor at the OHSU Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Ms. Bonds is a Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholar (2016-2018), a member of the American Nurses Association, Oregon Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, and Gerontological Society of America.