Employee Profile Angela Huff, RN, BSN Pre-Admission Nurse Care Manager The American Case Management Association, a non-profit association dedicated to the support and development of the profession of case management, defines case management as “a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation, and advocacy for options and services to meet an individual’s and family’s comprehensive health needs through communication and available resources.” For Angela Huff, ICSCI nurse care manager, case management means so much more. She is often the first person at ICSCI to talk to prospective patients. She reviews their records, listens to their stories, works with our insurance coordinator, and guides patients through the process of entering the program. For out-ofstate patients, she goes a step further and provides resources for transportation, local attractions, and accommodations. But she doesn’t want to be just “the voice on the phone.” Angela tries to meet all new patients after they arrive at ICSCI. “It is great getting to meet [patients and their families] in person after speaking to them for several months.” Angela says even when she was young, she knew she wanted to take care of people. “I enjoyed being around people and felt like I could help someone make a difference in their life. I knew that I always wanted to be in the medical field.” After earning her nursing degree from Catonsville Community College (now Community College of Baltimore County), she worked at a nursing home for a year before seeing a newspaper advertisement for Kennedy Krieger Institute. “At other hospitals, you see patients for maybe two days—you don’t really get to know them. [Knowing that Kennedy Krieger offered] rehabilitation was a big draw.”
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In 1998, Angela joined Kennedy Krieger Institute as a nurse on the inpatient unit. After completing her bachelor’s degree in 2010, she transitioned to ICSCI as our care manager. “I learned a lot on the inpatient floor and loved working with patients with spinal cord injuries…they just seem to have such a great outlook on life even though they have such traumatic injuries. And it was pretty inspiring to see these patients.” Originally from Catonsville, Maryland, Huff commutes every day from southern Pennsylvania. “I take the back roads to get here and it helps me to unwind.” During her off time she enjoys supporting her husband, an expert motorcycle racer, and her three children, who all compete in sports. This year, she completed the half marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival as a member of Team Kennedy Krieger. Last year, she completed the 5K for Team Kennedy Krieger, and although she has been running for the past five years, the 5K was her first official race. In September, Huff, fellow ICSCI care manager Lisa Trotta, and director of Care Management Jody Luttrell were chosen to present an educational poster, “Nurse Case Management in an Outpatient Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Setting,” on their role in case management at the Annual Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals Educational Conference. Angela admits that sometimes “hearing [prospective patients’] stories and their struggles is difficult. Patients don’t have our kind of therapy in their hometown and just trying to get here…the many challenges they face can be difficult.” But she says learning her patients’ stories is also the best part of her job. “I get to know the patients’ backgrounds and hear what they have gone through, whether it’s a new injury or many years out. The fact that they come here for the hope to recover and that they are very excited to come here… I just love how hopeful and positive they are.”