Joy Nickson is a surgical case manager who first met Mr. M after his open heart surgery. He expressed his frustration to her regarding his requests for help with installation of a ramp for disabled access into his home, he had been pursuing this for 2 years. He was even more concerned for his risk to fall now that he had undergone open heart surgery and was on sternal precautions. Joy took it upon herself to advocate for the patient in this matter, acting as a liaison between the patient and prosthetics and following up on the applications, quotes, and paperwork that were required, sometimes multiple times. She kept in touch with the patient and his daughter after his discharge until the job was finally completed 6 months later via weekly phone calls. The process was slow and follow through by multiple parties was difficult to obtain, but the installation of the ramp was finally complete due to Joy Nickson's dedication and persistence.
The benefit to this patient has been enormous. He had been struggling at home to travel over the broken pavement with his walker, cane, and scooter and had been approved for a grant for repair that had not been followed up on. He had been working with VA officials regarding this for 2 years prior to meeting Joy Nickson. This patient now has safe access in and out of his home.