Jodi Boory's clinical skill and especially her compassionate care exemplify the kind of nurse that our patients, their families, and our staff recognize as an outstanding role model.
A woman in her 60s recently came to our wound care clinic for evaluation of foot wounds due to arterial etiology. This woman was mentally alert and cognitively perfect; however her physical body was riddled with pain, weakness and contractures from multiple sclerosis. She was either wheelchair mobile or bed bound, unable to even transfer from the bed to a wheelchair without assistance. Her husband was her primary caregiver. Her husband was battling cancer which had recently spread into his lymph nodes. He was on chemotherapy and had just been given a prognosis that he only had a few months to live.
After careful evaluation of our wound care patient, it was determined that home care nursing was the best option for care of her wounds in addition to some assistance with activities of daily living. At this point, the patient and her daughter both became tearful; they whole heartedly agreed that home health nursing was an optimal and wonderful alternative to her current care situation but expressed concern that her insurance coverage did not cover this service. Her PCP had tried to get home care nursing more than once but was not successful. Social workers had also tried to intervene to have home care nursing initiated but her insurance would not cover it.
Jodi Boory, her nurse, reassured them that in spite of past denials, she would research options offered by the patient's insurance company for the much needed services and work out a plan. The patient and her daughter were skeptical because of multiple, previous failed efforts, but agreed to wait for Jodi to do some research and figure out some potential options.
Jodi went to work making multiple telephone calls. She explained, pleaded, and educated the folks on the other end of the telephone of the patient's situation, prognosis, and possible outcomes should the patient not have or not have the requested services. It took nearly an hour of her effort, but she ended up successfully pleading the case and initiated home health nursing services to assist the patient, to the relief of the patient, her daughter and the patient's husband.
Jodi is an avid advocate for patients in need. She is compassionate, persistent, and smart yet humble. In short, Jodi is simply amazing and we, as well as our patients, are blessed and fortunate to work with this nurse. She represents the heart of nursing.