Alayna Harris chose healthcare as a career because of her mother, who is also a nurse.

“Growing up, any time we were in the grocery store or at church, people would come up to her and thank her for the wonderful care she gave them or their family member and then they would turn to me and say that my mother was an angel on Earth,” she said. “Seeing the difference she made in people’s lives truly inspired me.”

Today Harris is a nurse practitioner specializing in cardiology at the Structural Heart Clinic at Willis Knighton North. She treats heart valve conditions such as aortic stenosis, aortic insufficiency, mitral regurgitation, tricuspid regurgitation and congestive heart failure. 

A native of Quitman, she attended Northwestern State University in Shreveport, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2017 and a Master of Science in Nursing degree (Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner) in 2026. She worked as a registered nurse at Willis Knighton North for a decade, with stints in the Cardiac Stepdown Unit and the Structural Heart Clinic. She is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Heart Association.

“My husband really encouraged me to continue my education to become a nurse practitioner,” she said. “When I doubted myself, he believed in me, and I am so grateful for him.”

When she’s not at work, she enjoys shopping, traveling and spending time with her husband and their four sons, “whether that is at church, the ballfield, swimming, going to the movies, being outside or anything fun!”