Jonas Nursing, a leading supporter of doctoral nursing education in the U.S., and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), announced that Kait Otero, a DNP student at College of Nursing, has been selected as a Jonas Scholar for the program’s 2024-2026 cohort. This program aims to improve health care by expanding the pool of PhD and DNP-prepared nurses needed to educate the next generation of nurse leaders.
Otero joins a select group of 63 of the nation’s most promising doctoral nursing students chosen for their passion for teaching, academic excellence, and research prowess. As a Jonas Scholar, Otero will receive financial support, mentorship, and a curriculum tailored to providing students with the learning experiences they need to successfully transition into a faculty role.
Otero's DNP Quality Improvement project interest concerns integrative psychotherapeutic and psychotropic interventions aimed at improving health outcomes for children, adolescents, and adult trauma survivors. Sheila Deyette, Otero's mentor at the College said, "Kait embodies the attributes and characteristics that are foundational to advanced practice psychiatric nursing. She is genuine, curious, emphatically attended, and internally motivated to respond to and facilitate patients' mental health, personal growth, and well-being."
Otero joins an incredible group of doctoral nursing students, with over 50% of its 2024-2026 cohort representative of Black, Latino, and other communities of color, ensuring that burgeoning nursing leaders reflect the patient population of their communities. This group of 63 Scholars contain a multitude of research interests focused on some of the country’s most pressing challenges, including underserved populations in nursing, mental health, and veterans’ health. She is actively involved in the Psychiatric Student Nurse Association, which supports Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner students through mentorship, networking, and community outreach.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to join the 2024 cohort of the Jonas Scholars Program," Otero says. "As a DNP-PMHNP student at the University of Utah College of Nursing, I aspire to gain the knowledge and critical thinking skills to make impactful contributions to psychiatric mental health nursing education and practice. I aim to improve mental health outcomes for individuals and their families through advocacy and collaborative partnerships with community resources. As a Jonas Scholar, I hope to increase public knowledge and reduce the stigma about mental illness.”