International Nurses Day: Nurse-Led Team Honored for Bringing Dignified Care and Support To Terminally Ill Patients on Hospital Ship in Africa

The compassionate care of a team of palliative care nurses from the United States and the Netherlands and two crew members from Sierra Leone are the first recipients of the Mercy Ships DAISY Team Award, a collaboration between international charity Mercy Ships (www.MercyShips.org) and the DAISY Foundation™. The team serves on board the Global Mercy™ hospital ship currently docked in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

The DAISY Team Award honors collaboration by a nurse-led team of two or more people who identify and meet patient and/or patient family needs by going above and beyond the traditional role of nursing. This is the first time the award has been presented to a nurse-led team serving on a hospital ship in Africa and will be given each year on International Nurses Day to honor and celebrate the work of Mercy Ships’ volunteer nurse-led teams.

As part of the Palliative Care team, these individuals provide comfort and support to terminally ill patients whose conditions fall outside the scope of surgical intervention, demonstrating extraordinary compassion for those facing incurable illness.

The interdisciplinary team consists of:

• Maria Brown – United States (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
• Renae Kramer – United States (Billings, Montana)
• Willianne Kramer – Netherlands (Urk)
• Samuel Tamba Essah – Sierra Leone (Konyomadu, Kailahun District)
• Gloria Cobba – Sierra Leone (Moyamba district)

In recognizing the team for the award, Tami Honnen, Director of Nursing for Mercy Ships, cited their extraordinary compassion, resilience, and holistic approach to providing care.

“This team is an astounding joy to know as they go well beyond traditional palliative care efforts,” said Honnen. “Peers that nominated them indicate they share faith in a tangible, loving way despite the most heartbreaking situations. Their efforts extend beyond medical and emotional support by helping families recover from the economic impact of illness.”

An international faith-based organization, Mercy Ships has focused entirely on partnering with nations in Africa for the past three decades, delivering surgery to those that have little access to safe medical care. Working with in-country partners, Mercy Ships also provides training to local healthcare professionals and supports the medical infrastructure of these nations to leave a lasting impact.

“The nurse-led team recognized with this award includes two crew members, Samuel Tamba Essah and Gloria Cobba from Sierra Leone, who also play a vital role in the palliative care team in helping patients and families navigate some of life’s most difficult moments with dignity and compassion,” said Honnen. “With backgrounds in humanitarian work, advocacy, and counselling, they each bring deep cultural awareness and local insight to the palliative care team’s holistic approach.”

Bonnie Barnes, co-founder of the DAISY Foundation, said, “Being able to honor and celebrate an extraordinary international team like Maria, Renae, Willianne, Samuel, and Gloria is a dream come true for us at DAISY. What they and so many others serving on Mercy Ships provide is the essence of compassionate nursing care that we created The DAISY Award to recognize. We are deeply proud that Mercy Ships has chosen The DAISY Award to express gratitude to their extraordinary teams who care for such vulnerable patients and families.”

About this year’s award recipients:

• Maria Brown specializes in medical-surgical and hospice nursing, providing holistic care that addresses patients’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Maria has experience as a Registered Nurse (RN) in hospice and medical-surgical units, as well as a certified nursing assistant in long-term and memory care. Her skills include patient and family education, end-of-life care, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She is certified as an RN and public health nurse by the Minnesota Board of Nursing. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Concordia University.

• Renae Kramer has more than 30 years of experience in nursing and emergency medical services. Renae has worked in healthcare settings across Montana, Nebraska, Minnesota, and North Dakota, providing comprehensive patient care, managing nursing teams, and coordinating care for geriatric and transplant patients. Renae holds an Associate of Arts in Nursing and an EMT-B license from Flatwood Valley Community College.  She graduated from the Licensed Practical Nursing program at Red Wing Technical College.

• Willianne Kramer has diverse experience in homecare, nursing homes, high dependency care, psychiatry, and general surgery. She completed internships in Israel and the Netherlands, worked in specialized homecare and palliative care, and plans to further her expertise in hospice or oncology. Willianne holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing (level 6) from Hoornbeeck College te Kampe and a first aid certificate for adults and children.

• Samuel Tamba Essah has been involved with Mercy Ships since 2001. He has held land-based roles, worked with patient selection, and has served on the Anastasis, the Africa Mercy®, and the Global Mercy. He started working as national crew for the Palliative Care team during the last field service and calls it a blessing. He has a diploma in motor vehicle engineering and has been involved in humanitarian work since 1999. Passionate about advocacy, he was part of a mission that engaged rural communities with gender awareness outreach and a mission that distributed food supplies to rural communities after the war in Sierra Leone.

• Gloria Cobba works with the Palliative Care team as national crew. Her first degree is in logistics and procurement while her second, and most recent, is in guidance and counselling. She has over a decade of active humanitarian and research work experience. She has served with different NGOs; reaching different provinces in Sierra Leone, carrying out surveys, and partaking in projects that impact lives. She joined Mercy Ships in 2023 and really enjoys working with the Palliative Care team.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mercy Ships.

About Mercy Ships:
Mercy Ships operates hospital ships that deliver free surgeries and healthcare services to those with little access to safe medical care. An international faith-based organization, Mercy Ships has focused entirely on partnering with African nations for the past three decades. Working with in-country partners, Mercy Ships also provides training to local healthcare professionals and supports the construction of in-country medical infrastructure to leave a lasting impact. Each year, more than 2,500 volunteers from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy and the Global Mercy. Professionals such as surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, and engineers dedicate their time and skills to accelerate access to safe surgical and anesthetic care. Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has offices in 16 countries as well as an Africa Service Center in Dakar, Senegal.For more information, visit MercyShips.org and follow @ MercyShips on social media.

About the DAISY Foundation:
The DAISY Foundation is a nonprofit organization serving the nursing profession through recognition programs as well as grants for nursing research, evidence-based practice, medical missions, and continuing education. The DAISY Foundation was created in 1999 in memory of the extraordinary nursing care provided to J. Patrick Barnes during his eight-week hospitalization for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an auto-immune disease. His family’s drive to say “thank you” to nurses for the compassionate and skillful care they provide daily has evolved to play a strategic role in healthcare organizations by providing unique, meaningful, and impactful recognition that benefits nurses and their work organizations. Today, more than 7,300 healthcare facilities and nursing schools are committed to honoring nurses in 43 countries.