A 70 hour week at the VA

This week I started my internal medicine rotation at the VA. I have been (un)lucky enough to work at the VA more than any other med student in my class. I got to work there my entire psychiatry rotation, I spent my surgery weeks there, and now I get to do my internal medicine there. There are a lot of things I hate about the VA. I hate how lazy a lot of the nurses are. I watched my patient writhe around in bed last night for an hour after I ordered his pain meds because a nurse was too busy to spend 30 seconds to go give him a shot. I hate how there are certain hallways that smell like poo (somehow my patients always get assigned to the feces wing). I hate how the cafeteria is open for dinner from 1-2 pm. I hate the fact that nobody answers the phone in fear of having to do actual work, so I have to march down to the lab and demand that my stat blood work be done so I can go to sleep knowing my patient won't have a fatal arrhythmia overnight. In all honesty, every time I work at the VA I see things that really shake my faith in humanity. I really start to think the human race is in a pretty sad state.

Despite my moaning and groaning there is one thing that I like about the VA. I love the patients. Sure they are a little spicy. One of my patient's refers to his African American roomate as "the colored fella" or "the gorilla" (this nearly sparks a fight every time I see them together). One of my patients sat through an entire history and physical with his robe open, and at the end said "sorry you had to see my nuts all through that". In all seriousness, they are really great patients and I have learned so much from them. They are so patient and appreciative. I feel really hurt when I see them neglected or given bureaucratic runarounds to the detriment of their health. Over my months at various VA hospitals I have really come to respect our veterans, and I wish that the government would give them the respect they have earned. I hate how we can spend so much money on war, but we can't go the extra mile and pony up a little cash to better cover the health care of those who served.

This article sums up how the system is failing many of our veterans