Otitolola Fletcher: Hello everyone, my name is Otitolola Fletcher. I go by Otit. I am currently in the PhD program at the Cizik School of Nursing at UT Health Science Center in Houston.
What drew you to nursing?
Otitolola Fletcher: My mom was a nurse and so I would definitely say that that inspired me. But what really solidified my choice of the nursing profession was in 1999 when my mom got sick. She unfortunately contracted meningitis and she was in the ICU for about 3 to 4 months. And I remember she went from one hospital to the next and she probably had what I would consider the worst nursing care that anyone could ever have. And I remember thinking that I wanted to become a nurse so that nobody else's family member would have to go through what I went through and that I wanted to give the best care possible and to make sure that my patients were well taken care of.
What would you like to do once you have completed your degree?
Otitolola Fletcher: Once I complete my PhD, I would like to continue building upon my program of research on the nursing workforce and the challenges that nurses face. I also hope to secure nursing faculty positions that I'm able to continue to pour into the nursing profession and mold future nurses.
If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Otitolola Fletcher: That's a tough one considering that I'm a foodie and so I love all food. But if I had to choose just one thing, it would be curry chicken with buss up shut, which originated in Trinidad because that's where I'm from. So definitely I can eat curry chicken and buss up shut all day, every day of my life.
