Betty Sam is a household name in the Sierra Leone health service and is an accomplished senior nurse and midwife. She has over 20 years of dedicated work involving government health institutions, faith-based institutions, professional associations, and the UN. From her first nurse-midwife role she progressed to hospital matron, competency-based trainer and mentor, and a health development practitioner with national and international health organizations at the top managerial level. Sam’s work in the last decade has been providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and its development partners in capacity building programs for clinical staff at newborn care facilities nationwide. Sam formally retired in 2019 but remains active and has been strongly involved in supporting her country’s COVID-19 response.
“With my years of experience and extensive travels, I would have left Sierra Leone for greener pastures abroad like other colleagues, but I had the urge to serve in my country in difficult times.” – Betty Sam
Sam’s active involvement in Trauma Healing and Conflict Management helped health workers cope with work-related stress which is common in the field of Midwifery and Nursing. As one of the facilitators trained in Kenya by the USA based Trauma Healing Institute, she has helped bolster a resilient workforce in Sierra Leone. Same has provided skills to many colleagues, family and friends for relief of grief and loss, having received a series of training in Trauma Healing and conflict management by national and international groups.