Get to Know Daniel Ampomah, Ph.D., RN, NE-BC, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Nursing and Health Center

Nursing actually wasn’t my first career path. When I arrived to the U.S. from Ghana, I changed course. My brother was going through some difficult health issues, and the people who made his life better were the nurses. I had a change of heart because of the compassion and care that I saw nurses bringing to the table. In nursing school, I thought bedside nursing was the only option available as a career trajectory for nursing. To my surprise, nursing is a huge and a diversified profession. You can aspire to be whatever you want to be. Opportunities for growth are found in areas such as: academia, law, forensic nursing, anesthesia, holistic nursing, case management, nurse executives, lobbyist and the list goes on and on.

I host a health segment on a local radio station called, “Your Health is Wealth” that addresses health issues in the community. My favorite aspect is just getting into the studios of Ghana Tourist Coach Radio in Alexandria, Va. every Sunday afternoon and disseminating health-related information to my community. More than 7,000 people listen to my radio broadcast where I discuss prevalent health issues in that community, such as hypertension and diabetes. It is so fulfilling when people call and seek answers to questions that bother them!

Nursing is a caring profession that offers me an opportunity to place my skills, talents and knowledge at the disposal of my community. All nurses, regardless of their specialty, have a unique responsibility of showing gratitude to their community by selflessly giving their caring hearts back to the community by way of volunteerism. I think it is not so much an act of generosity as a responsibility. The role of the nurse is to serve as the central custodian of community care. Nurses serve the community by providing health and wellness education and immediate care services, promote disease prevention and facilitate disease management.