“Your attitude toward duty was exceptional. You proved to clients and staff that they needed each other’s support in order for us to achieve our goal. Your commitment to the Polyclinic’s activities was exemplary…”
These are few of the words of gratitude showered on Nurse Belinda Dzierdzorm Korley by the management of Ho Polyclinic for her hard work, sense of initiative, enthusiasm toward responsibilities, patient-centeredness and show of discipline in the performance of her nursing and leadership roles. Nurse Korley was honoured at a 2017 end-of-year award ceremony in Ho, in the Volta Region.
The 29-year-old nurse was born at Abor and lived her early childhood days in her mother’s hometown, Hikpo, in the Volta Region. At age 4, she was sent to Ashaiman, near Tema, where she had her basic education under the care of an aunt, while her mother stayed back in the village to ply a trade in dressing making and petty consumables to cover her upkeep. She sought further studies at Chemu Senior High School from 2003, where she read General Science.
Raised by a single parent with the support of her uncle, in the lowly shacks of Ashaiman, Nurse Korley defied the odds of uncertainties, took a factory hand job in a construction company, where she raised money to help pay her training college fees. Today, she remains a symbol of dedication among her peers. The wife, and mother of one, appreciated her mother for being a central part of her life.
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Nurse Korley recalled; “Growing up, all I wanted to be was a lawyer. I can’t remember what informed my choice but it was one that I wasn’t going to trade for anything. I remember mum used to teach me A-B-C-D at home before I started nursery in my village. But before completing junior high school, life took several turns for my mum, my two younger sisters and me. Again, there wasn’t anything in terms of career guidance. Then, there was the issue of family expectations in terms of school and social life…”
In what came as an emotional moment for the celebrated nurse, Belinda recalled further; ‘I didn’t have the luxury of choosing my dream school or course. So General Science did me, and not the other way around. I was confused at the end of the course because I didn’t know what to apply for, thinking that Law wasn’t going to absorb me. I didn’t therefore apply to Law school. Then Steve [now her husband] proposed nursing and here I am today.”
“Nursing training school changed me a lot. There were times I asked myself whether nursing was the right place for me. It was difficult separating my emotions from my job. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing a patient under my care. Even a cockroach scared me, but all that changed. I learnt to accept that!” She added.
Recounting her past experiences put Nurse Korley in tears. She admitted, “I have some flashbacks that I couldn’t mention. But thanks to my mum and a few others…God has been faithful. I always told myself, “You can’t fail.” Nurse Korley is currently pursuing a fellowship specialty in Paediatrics at the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives. She attended the Ho Nursing and Midwifery Training School.
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Among the leadership roles played by Nurse Korley are Institutional Coordinator for Peer Review Activities, Drugs and Therapeutics Committee Member, and Focal Person for Quality Improvement Initiatives. In her last words, she said, “I look forward to becoming a professor in Nursing while making time to build my family. I would also love to build a home for the less privileged and give them hope to be what they want to be.
The nursing profession is proud of you, Nurse Belinda Dziedzorm Korley. Remain a beacon of Inspiration.