Roselyn Nugba-Ballah
CitizenshipLiberia
OccupationNurse
EmployerLiberian Red Cross
AwardsFlorence Nightingale Medal

Roselyn Nugba-Ballah is a nurse from Liberia, who was a recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal in 2017.

Biography

Nugba-Ballah studied for a BSc in Nursing from Mother Patern College of Health Sciences in Monrovia.[1] She also has a MA in Health Care Policy and Management from the Cuttington University, as well a Diploma in Project Management awarded by Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA).[1] She began work for the Liberian Red Cross in 2014.[2] She was motivated to get involved in work against Ebola, because of its effect on women in terms of their roles as care givers, but also because of the economic impact on women's lives due to their jobs as market traders, for example.[3]

Role in Liberia's Ebola Virus Epidemic

Nugba-Ballah was Supervisor of the Liberian Red Cross’ Safe and Dignified Burial Team during the Ebola outbreak.[4] She ensured that all bodies were collected, often from the streets, and buried.[4] She was known for wearing medical scrubs with Winnie-the-Pooh on them.[5] The team worked particularly in Monrovia and its surroundings.[6] One section of the 140-strong burial team, had the nickname during the crisis was Body Team 12.[7][8] During their work, Nugba-Bullah and her team faced social discrimination at they worked closely with victims of the disease.[6] Well aware of the physical and psychological risks, Nugba-Ballah arranged for mental health support for the team.[8] Nugba-Ballah and her team's work contributed research to international understanding of the crisis, especially rates of morbidity.[9] She contributed to research on the estimation of the risk of infection as a result of unsafe burial practices.[10]

Florence Nightingale Medal

Nugba-Ballah was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal in 2017 for her work with the Liberian Red Cross, particularly in disaster situations.[11] In her acceptance speech, she said that: “This medal is for all of us. We all worked for it, and we deserve it together”.[6] She has received 45 other distinct international awards for her services to healthcare.[4] She is an advocate for women's education in Liberia.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Liberian Nurse receives international Florence Nightingale award". News Public Trust. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "International Women's Day: Your views". BBC News. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Liberian women lead Red Cross Ebola response - IFRC". www.ifrc.org. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Liberian Red Cross Volunteer Staff Receives Highest International Award". FrontPageAfrica. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "Raecho International Limited-新闻中心". www.raecho-hk.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Harmon, William Q. (1 December 2017). ""A True Patriot," Nurse Roselyn Ballah, Gets Nightingale Award Presented". Liberian Observer. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Liberia's Burial Workers Struggle to Forget Horrors of Ebola | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  8. 1 2 Chhabra, Essa (2015). "Ebola's Body Collectors". The Atlantic.
  9. ↑ Nyenswah, Tolbert G., et al. “Evidence for Declining Numbers of Ebola Cases — Montserrado County, Liberia, June–October 2014.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 63, no. 46, 2014, pp. 1072–1076. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24856194. Accessed 22 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Tiffany, Amanda; Dalziel, Benjamin D.; Kagume Njenge, Hilary; Johnson, Ginger; Nugba Ballah, Roselyn; James, Daniel; Wone, Abdoulaye; Bedford, Juliet; McClelland, Amanda (22 June 2017). Akogun, Oladele B. (ed.). "Estimating the number of secondary Ebola cases resulting from an unsafe burial and risk factors for transmission during the West Africa Ebola epidemic". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 11 (6): e0005491. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005491. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 5480832. PMID 28640823.
  11. ↑ "Florence Nightingale Medal: Honouring exceptional nurses and nursing aides - 2017 recipients". 12 May 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ↑ "Red Cross Empowers 184 Women In Various Skills". AboveWhispers. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
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