note from Joyce: I have wanted to be a nurse ever since I was a little girl, but because of the church affiliation I was raised in, we were not encouraged to go to school beyond the 8th grade. So I quit school in the eighth grade but got my high school diploma through a correspondence course. So, needless to say I went to college for nursing with basically an eighth grade education. I had never written a paper, and did not have anatomy, biology or chemistry classes. I also was a single parent and found out while in college I had ADD. I never allowed myself to think I could not make it because I was going after my dream. To this day, I am so thankful to be a nurse, and thank God continuously I am able to do what I love to do. I am also very thankful I have found my niche in nursing...labor and delivery. I love what I do, and when I go home I feel I gave the best care I could for my patients for the past 12 hours.

...

A recent patient at our hospital had this to say about Joyce, "Being the first time I was ever admitted into a hospital, Joyce, though I had never met her, set all my fears at ease. She quickly picked up on the things that made me feel uncomfortable and she made it a point to do those things each time she saw me tense up in fear. She treated me like family, and because of her I will never forget my stay at IU West. She walked in as my nurse and walked out as my friend, and I will always be thankful. I can honestly say that her presence did more for me than any of the doses of medication she brought for me to take."