Nursesarena Forum

The Nigerian Universities Nursing Student Association (NUNSA), has announced Justina Ejelonu the ‘2020 Nurse of the Year’.

The gesture, according to the organiser, is in the spirit of celebrating this year’s International Nurses Week being the international year of nurses and midwives as announced by World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Council of Nurses (ICN).



The late Justina Ejelonu was a 25- year-old pregnant nurse and an employee of First Consultant Hospital, Lagos. She contracted the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in 2014 as one of those attending to Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American immigrant who was EVD index case in Nigeria.

Ejelonu resumed at the hospital on July 2014, same month sawyer was admitted at the hospital. She was assigned to nurse the foreigner, a duty she carried out with diligence, energy and passion.

The association stated that though Ejelonu was bestowed a posthumous  award in December last year by the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, they expressed disappointment that Ejelonu is yet to be recognised like Dr Adedavoh who worked in the hospital and was the one who insisted Mr sawyer could not leave the hospital having been suspected of exhibiting some of the symptoms of EVD.

“NUNSA finds it so disheartening that our dear country has refused to honour this heroine whose life was cut short in the process of curbing the spread of the Ebola Virus disease.

‘’In lieu of this, NUNSA is celebrating the late Justina Ejelonu’s excellent service to humanity. We find her worthy of the posthumous award of ‘Nurse of the year’ in recognition of her heroic deed.”

Source: The Nation Newspaper