Influential Woman · Healthcare
Fatuma Doka
Nurse Practitioner and founder of Tender Grassroots, Tender Grassroots
Limerick, PA 19468
Her Story
About Fatuma
I have over 30 years of experience in healthcare. I'm currently a nurse practitioner at Jefferson University Hospital, where I've been for 21 years working in urology. My work includes providing inpatient care with pre-op and post-op assessments for surgery patients, as well as office-based primary urology care covering general urology and urology oncology. I'm particularly proud of my involvement in prostate cancer screening programs where we reach out to underserved communities through churches and community outreach events, providing free screening to those who can't afford it. Before my current position, I worked as a nurse practitioner with a geriatric home health program for about 5 years, providing mobile primary care services to homebound patients who couldn't visit their primary doctors. I also worked in nursing homes for 3 years, did internal medicine at a hospital for about a year, and worked in the emergency room for one year when I initially graduated, which gave me a lot of valuable experience. Beyond my clinical work, I founded Tender Grassroots, a not-for-profit organization that I've been running since 2019, which supports underserved communities in Africa, specifically Uganda, through a holistic approach to education, health, and community development. I'm also deeply committed to teaching and mentoring, working with nurse practitioner students from Jefferson, Penn, and Villanova, MPH students from Drexel University, and residents within the Jefferson system.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Fatuma
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to hard work and the support from those around me. Support and teamwork make a lot of difference in what I've been able to accomplish throughout my career.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to do what's right, and you always get the right results. Treat everybody the same, regardless of their social or economic background. That principle has guided me throughout my career and helps ensure I'm providing the best care to everyone.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do what you are passionate about. Do something because you want to do it, then it's not a chore, and you'll do it right, instead of doing it just because it's a source where you're going to be hired. You'll get burnt out if you do that. You need to do something because you want to do it, because you love it. If you feel like you're doing it and it becomes a job as opposed to passion, then look for something else, because otherwise you get burnt out and you won't do what's right.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Nothing is easy, and there are lots of obstacles. One of the biggest challenges is making people see what you're talking about - you have to keep saying it over and over again. There's a lot of skepticism out there, so you just have to keep at it. Persistence is really important in overcoming these challenges.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty is extremely important to me, as well as treating everybody the same regardless of their background. These values guide both my professional work and my personal life, ensuring that I approach every situation and every person with integrity and fairness.
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