Part III of a Series
by Nicholas J. Vocca
Posted
comments on the Yahoo News internet site regarding an Associated Press
article reporting how bonuses for high-level officials of the Department
of Veterans Affairs have been suspended due to a backlog in processing
veterans disability claims, and a subsequent May 3 article for ABC News
Good Morning America by Susan Donaldson James reporting how Vietnam
Veterans are the highest suicide risks nationally because many will not
seek professional help from the VA, may indicate that a great majority
of veterans and their
family members are deeply unsatisfied with this agency.
In
regards to James' article, of the near-2500 comments, many which had
over 30 or more replies, there was a very low and insignificant amount
of responders who expressed their opinions that veterans deserved no
special benefits or treatment because they knew what they were getting
into when enlisting, and some, regarded more as "Internet Trolls," who
said veterans were killers who willfully participated in illegal wars.
The
jaundiced, scathing opinions of the way the VA has operated and treated
our nations men and women who served were not limited to just those of
the Vietnam Conflict. Dozens of veterans who served in World War II,
Korea, and many who saw combat in our modern day War on Terror, or their
family members, all shared a range of difficulties experienced which
has left them disgruntled and disillusioned in dealing with the VA.
One
of the most common and major
grievances posted by these individuals is how they are "run through the
mill" gathering, filling out, and submitting paperwork, as well as
being subjected to an equally consuming amount of time spent attending
evaluations, interviews, and medical appointments, where they are put on
hold for long periods, or informed they need to fill out additional
forms or attend more appointments.
Be
it a claim for Agent Orange, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or even
disabilities incurred from being wounded in combat, such as a missing
limb or some degree of being paralyzed, their is a substantial amount
of veterans who have been waiting for
years...some as many as five or more...before hearing any word on their
claim(s).
A
generous portion of posting veterans have reported that they either
contacted a service officer of a veterans organization, or their
representatives in Congress, and even these officials have often been
met with long delays in receiving a reply back from some VA facilities.
Many
of these same veterans, or family members, said that the same applies
to when they call the particular VA facility they are dealing with; an
experience they often dread due to long periods of being placed on hold,
multiple transfers to various departments, and sometimes seemingly
rude, or inattentive personnel who repeatedly ask them for basic
information they already gave that particular person.
Was one veteran simply expressing his personal view, or speaking for all, when he posted;" VA. Delay, Deny, until I die"?
In
this same category of long waits, mistreatment, and inattentive VA
staff, there were posts concerning the hospital stay of veterans which
are, at best, alarming to most who use this agency as their sole or
primary medical care provider.
One
veteran posted his experience(s) when sharing a room with three others
during a stay at the VA hospital by using exact times when he or the
other veterans
requested something, and when they received it. While it is
understandable that giving a patient a pain medication may take time
because the nurse may have to first consult with a physician, or it is
too early to give one that prescribed medication, simple things like
bringing one a bedpan, getting them some fresh water or some simple,
basic request, should not take up to an hour or more to perform.
Another
veteran posted how, when in the Butler VA, a nurse came on the PA
system during dinner one night informing all in the dining hall that the
Red Velvet Cake they were served for dessert had "worms in it." Noting
how some
veterans immediately began gagging or throwing their cake away, this
veteran reported further that within a minute this same nurse came into
the dining room, laughing, and then stated for all to hear that she was
"only joking" because she wanted to make sure there was a piece left for
her. From this veteran's understanding, "Foods served at the VA are
supposed to be for the veterans, not staff."
Having
had to fast from midnight until his scheduled surgery at around 1:30
the next day, a veteran hospitalized at the Pittsburgh VA posted how he
suddenly woke when feeling a cold object on his left shoulder several
hours after surgery,
only to find it was a nurse rubbing an alcohol prep pad in preparation
to give him a shot. When he informed her how it is common sense and
protocol to first make sure a patient is awake and aware of what what a
nurse is going to do, and added how there are many combat veterans who
would react by "kicking you in the stomach out of fear," the nurse
simply shrugged, said she never looked at it that way, and proceeded to
give him the shot.
About
ten-minutes later this same veteran felt a another cold object on his
right shoulder, and again found a nurse standing over him with a
needle. When he inquired what was going on, the nurse
told him she had read on his chart that his blood sugar was "138," and
that she was going to give him some insulin. At that he did acknowledge
that he was on an oral medication because he is a "borderline"
diabetic, and that the his blood sugar was high was because he had
fasted since the previous midnight, had not eaten since. He immediately
told the nurse he was refusing the insulin because he had never
prescribed it. With that, the nurse just said "oh," and left.
The
widow of one veteran, who contends the her husband died as a result of
the negligent and improper care her husband received through the VA is
just one of
many family members who posted negative and improper care did draw
similar sentiments in posts centered around these articles.
The
widow of a WWII veteran did post that her husband received good care
when first utilizing the VA but, over the passage of time, he was more
or less cast off to the sidelines, and has since been steadily going
downhill.
The
expressed shames of some veterans stems not from shame with the
substandard care, mistreatment and other dealings with the VA, but more
from the ways in which this agency, and some others in have done, has
left them with a sense of feeling inferior, unwanted, and abandoned.
Over
that, one must ask: If a nation allows those who served to defend it
to harbor such thoughts as being inferior, unwanted, and abandoned, is
such a nation worth defending?
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