I sent this message to Senator Levin today. After 9/11, my son was determined to protect his country and enlisted in the army infantry. He went to Afghanistan and returned with vision and sight impairment and PTSD. He struggled with demons for years and on 2/3/13, burned his uniform and blew his head off. He had been to the VA for help many times and was met with disrespect, ineffective treatments and therapists who clearly had no expertise working with his diagnosis. His family was never involved in his treatment. As a psychiatric nurse, I tried to be supportive but I was his mother and he protected me from his troubles. For many months now I have been involved in the Veterans PTSD Support Project on Facebook, offering strategies for managing panic attacks and information as I have it. The Veterans who come there for support have taught me a great deal, not just about the experience of PTSD, but also negotiating the VA. I am also an admin and members of two groups for loved ones of military suicide completors. I am retired now but in my last job I worked in standards compliance and performance improvement at a state psychiatric hospital. With those credentials, I make these points: Veterans Administration hospitals are all different in effectiveness. They are not required to meet current standards of care and practice, and practitioners are not expected to maintain current standards of treatment. There does not appear to be training for practioners or any requirement that they use best practices or any protocols for assessment and treatment. If small state psychiatric hospitals are expected to meet the stringent standards of Joint Commission on Healthcare Administration, why is there no credentialing for VA hospitals. Why is leadership not trained in hospital administration? How is it appropriate that personnel are supervised by standards that do not address their adherence to standards of care, including respect for the heroes of our country. Why are our heroes ashamed to seek help for a problem that results frhom exposure to ghastly experiences and changes the structure and function of their brain so that they interpret the world differently from others and make it so difficult to function when they return. You are the Senator in the best position to bring these issues forward. Please help all of us, veterans and the families of veterans who are dying by their own hand at a rate exceeding 22 per day.
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 14:06:33 +0000
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