Meet Naomi Oti, winner of global nursing award - She beats 100,000 others

An Oncology Nurse Specialist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Naomi Oyoe Ohene Oti, recently won this year’s Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award of $250,000. Mrs Oti, Head of Nursing at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre, was rewarded for her transformative impact on cancer care across Africa. 

One of ten finalists out of the 100,000 nominees submitted across 199 countries, she, together with the other nine finalists, was also presented with a plaque of participation. The award came off at a grand ceremony in Dubai yesterday.

The Daily Graphic’s Health Desk Editor, Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, interviewed Mrs Oti at the Graphic studio to learn more about the award and what is next after winning it. For the purposes of the interview, the interviewer will be referred to as RQD while the interviewee will be NOOO.

RQD: Thank you Nurse Oyo for being with us. How do you feel about the award? 

NOOO: First of all, to God be the glory. It's quite humbling and deeply emotional to stand on this big stage to be named the winner of the 2025 Astar Guidance Global Nursing Award.

It's quite humbling because we had 10 finalists who all had beautiful stories.

And I mean, they've made an impact in their various spaces.

I see it as not just a recognition, but an award for the resilience, dedication and potential of nurses across Ghana, Africa and the world.

I also see it as the recognition of the unseen heroes in healthcare, especially the cancer nurses who are doing their best to give the needed care to our patients, irrespective of their limited resources. 

RQD: When you say you all had stories to pitch, what was your story? 

NOOO: There were about five areas that you needed to have made an impact in.

One was on nursing leadership and the other was on nursing education.

We also had nursing practice, community engagements and one on research and innovations.

So in these five areas, there should be some impact.

However, you should take one as your main and two as supporting areas.

I chose nursing leadership and then education and research as my supporting areas.

In terms of nursing leadership, I led the first oncology nursing education programme in Ghana, in collaboration with Cross Cancer Institute.

I was also part of that programme until the emergence of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives programme.

I was further part of the team that developed the curriculum for the Ghana College of Nurses Education postgraduate programme.

In sustaining what we had with Cross Cancer Institute, we also initiated an in-house Continuous Professional Education programme, just to make sure that this is, well, I say, sustained.

And because oncology is evolving every day, new things are coming.

RQD: Do we have a lot of oncology nurses in Ghana and Africa?

NOOO:  They are coming up. In Ghana, there are about 63 of them. 

RQD:How did you hear about the award and How did you get in? 

NOOO: I was nominated. I first heard it from a friend.

At the time, the first one had been done.

So it was when the second one, which was going to be done that she said she told me she had seen an award scheme that she thinks is good and that I should try it.

She introduced me to it and said she would nominate me.

I nominated her and she also nominated. She was nominated from Kenya.

So I think I went through the various phases, but there was a clause in the terms and conditions I didn't really pay attention to: they will call you to have an interaction and get to know whether you are who you said you are, where you are and stuff like that. I was called.

I think I had travelled out of the country at the time so they didn't get hold of me. 

Then just last December, my friend again said the call came again and asked if I was interested. I said, OK.

So she nominated again and the rest is history.

It was very intensive. I met a lot of people, but the requirement was too much.

There were times I had to stay up till 1 a.m. and sometimes 2 a.m. just to finish a part, because I needed to pitch it well.

And one thing I will advise the young ones is that they should tell their own story. Don't let someone tell it for you.

Tell your own story, and take charge of it.

Documentation is very important, because everything that I did, I had to prove it.

Evidence that I had done this and that.

So to the younger generation, it's very important that you document every step of the way.

Then there was another stage of the grand jury, where I was meeting the crème de la crème in healthcare, WHO consultants and people of that sort to pitch everything that I had done in five minutes, to convince them that I deserved the award, which by God's grace we did, hoping for the outcome.

Everyone had beautiful stories.

And I always say to them, they are all winners.

Our other nine finalists, yeah.

RQD: How did you feel when your name was mentioned?

NOOO: First of all, everyone had the winner's speech.

So it wasn't like this one knew that this one was going to be called on. We all wrote our award speech ready in our hands.

So when she mentioned my name, Naomi,.... it was very humbling. You know, I have had some awards.

So I thought it was just one of those ordinary ones.

But this one was global.

Yes, it's big. It's big. And at such stage, 199 countries.

So it was like, later on, trying to process the whole thing.

Yes, it was quite humbling to be chosen for that Aster Guardian 2024 Award.

I really appreciate the ASTA-DM Healthcare for instituting this award.

The grand jury also did fantastically.

For me as a faith person, the God factor also worked, apart from me putting in work. 

RQD: How would you want us to remember you after this award? What are you going to do? 

NOOO: After this award, one of the things that we put forward to use the seed money for is to complete the competencies that we are working on.

We also want to create and develop a programme, a nurse leader's programme, for cancer nurses, as I said, to be able to empower them and bridge their bedside to the boardroom.

I will also develop a programme for cancer genetic counseling, to be able to empower nurses to do genetic reassessments because some percentage of cancers are due to genetics. And they need to know. 

I also want to get some seed funds for scholarships to be able to empower nurses to add knowledge to themselves so nurses can assume higher positions.

So I want to be known as someone who helps people to know their power, and how powerful they are, and also push the nurses' voices out there, especially oncology nurses' voices, and also develop structure to transform cancer care across Africa.

RQD: Is there somebody that you'd want to say a special thank you to in a minute? 

NOOO: Yes. The Aster DM Healthcare team, the entire leadership in Ghana and the entire membership of the Church of Pentecost in the 195 countries they all voted from across the world, my coaches, my husband and family, the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives, the West Africa Postgraduate College of Nurses and Midwives and the Ghana Diaspora Nurses Association, including all my alumni in all the schools that I attended and many more.

* Watch the full interview on GraphiconlineTV on YouTube