Community Health Presentation
Caring for Our Veterans
For God and the soldier we adore
In time of danger, not before.
The danger passed, and all things righted,
God is forgotten, and the soldier slighted.
These words, written many years ago by Rudyard Kipling, still ring true today.
There has never been a group of individuals in history who have been exposed to more health risks and hazards than our nation’s veterans. After completing their service and seeking healthcare through the VA, many have been subjected to extremely long wait periods and care that is not up to standards. Veterans living in rural areas have little or no access to health care through the VA since the VA facilities are limited (Project on government oversight, 2013). As a result of recent focus on the plight of veterans receiving poor care through the VA, veterans now have the option of receiving care through a non-VA facility (VA, n.d.). For this community health presentation project, information will be presented about nursing care for our veterans. As of September 30, 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau, there were a total of 721,575 veterans living in the State of Illinois.
Number of Veterans in Illinois
Wartime Veterans 539,880
Gulf War Veterans 206,504
Vietnam War Veterans 241,854
Korean War Veterans 65,381
World War II Veterans 37,506
Peacetime Veterans 181,695
Female Veterans 54,707
Male Veterans 666,868
Fewer than 25% of these veterans receive their medical
Veterans face many challenges when transitioning from the service. Those that have served shift from a fairly structured and ridged way of life to the less structured and more chaotic civilian life. Many veterans, especially those that have been in combat or have had to personally deal with catastrophic situations, have a very hard time adjusting and often require significant levels of assistance. Sadly many veterans fail to get help, either because they do not wish to appear weak or they are simply turned away.
The issue of veterans’ health care has dominated public discourse for many years, with various statistics
The objectives for the desired outcomes is to ensure that every veteran, regardless of which war, receives the proper care and treatment of their ailments. This is to include housing our homeless veterans in complexes in which they will feel safe, yet give them the freedom they need to work on their journey of healing. In the process, the veterans families that are affected must not be forgotten as
The Veterans Health Administration is home to the United States’ largest integrated health care system consisting of 150 medical centers, nearly 1,400 community-based outpatient clinics, community living centers, Vet Centers and Domiciliary. Together these health care facilities and the more than 53,000 independent licensed health care practitioners who work within them provide comprehensive care to more than 8.3 million Veterans each year. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of the medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision
This study strives to increase the awareness of healthcare disparities among veterans in hopes that veterans can receive the best healthcare possible. This study has the potential to change the structure of veterans’ health care. If their health care is damaged to the extent that some insiders and outsiders believe it to be, then hopefully the veterans’ health care system can be restructured. These disparities can be addressed in community outreach programs to expand common knowledge on the subject.
Community nurses have a task of conducting interviews to citizens and location of homeless veterans, to establish their needs. The nurse need to
Veterans are heroes in the eyes of many citizens of the United States. There are over 20 million veterans that have risked their lives at young ages to help give the nation a fear free life. They serve and protect the land for their children, spouses, parents, family, and neighbors. Yet they are not treated with the love and respect they truly deserve. The veterans took a devastating loss when the “House Appropriations Subcommittee marked up the 2016 Veterans Affairs funding bill, and slashed more than $1.4 billion from the presidents requested budget for America’s Veterans” ( ask mrs. Pyle 8). Today, the veterans are treated worse than prisoners who have committed murder or rape. While these criminals have a safe and warm place to stay,
The Institute of Medicine’s 2010 report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health acknowledges the changing healthcare sector in the US and describes future vision of healthcare and the role of nurses to fulfill that vision. The United States always strives to provide affordable and quality healthcare to the entire population of the country. In order to achieve this goal an overall restructuring of the healthcare system was necessitated. Nurses are considered to be the central part of the healthcare system to provide high quality and safe patient care. Nursing in the US is the single largest segment of the healthcare workforce with almost 3 million nurses working in different areas across the county. The changing
Both articles identify the issue of providing mental health services for veterans with an extra emphasis on those that served in Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF veterans). It is no surprise that returning veterans suffer from both visible/invisible (physical and mental) wounds. Most veterans have this “high” expectation that they are going to receive quality care from both the DoD and VA. Unfortunately reality steps in where veterans are slapped in the face because they are receiving a lack of poor quality care all while jumping through Beuracractic hoops. The challenges faced to access these services include resistance, stigma, lack of professionalism, and geographic and/or regional disparities in the distribution of services resources and/or benefits, and the system simply refusing to change.
The article begins defining its demographic, rural native veterans. A veteran is any individual who has served in the military. Secondly, rural veterans include those living in counties with less than seven civilians per square mile (Veterans Health Administration 2008). Finally, native veterans include the following ethnic groups: American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010) American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) veterans comprise the largest minority ethnic group in the VHA of 12 percent. The article, “Health Needs of Rural Native Veterans” addresses health care disparities such as poverty, limited access to care, and education that the identified population is
All elements in this domain scored a five. The VHA focuses on diversity and disparities among Veterans. The comprehensive electronic health record captures demographic information, such as race, ethnicity, language on the initial visit to the facility. This information can then be viewed in the first pane of the patient chart. Although English is the primary language, an interpreter can be made available if necessary. Those patients who are hearing impaired are provided with an interpreter fluent in sign language. Multiple programs are available to Veterans who are underserved. A series of questions are reviewed with the patient annually, with the goal of identifying the Veteran’s needs. These questions focus on routine health care, as well
In July 1775, the Congress established a hospital or what they called it then a medical department in Massachusetts with a chief physician of the hospital, four surgeons, a pharmacist, and nurses, which are usually wives or widows of military personnel to care for military members. (TRICARE Timeline). Today health care has come a long way especially for the military; we have better equipment and more than enough surgeons, physicians, and of course, our spouses or widows are no longer our nurses. Now we have qualified individuals that are very capable of making sure that they are patched and ready to get
The student’s quality improvement project aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2006) utilizing evidence-based practice to provide quality post-hospitalization follow-up for veterans who are admitted into non-VA facilities. During the immersion experience, the student was able to assess the current facility’s practice and collaborate with various profession at various levels of system of the current practice in the planning phase. . In addition, the partnership among the inter-organizations and inter-disciplines bring changes to current practice and improve the continuity of care from inpatient to outpatient settings. In addition, the data from the project indicates that many non-VA admissions are
In the United States, soldiers are currently returning home from war broken and scarred. While some physical wounds are clearly visible others are often hidden/invisible to the naked eye, but men and women proudly wear these wounds as a badge of courage and honor for protecting our nation. These men and women come home rightfully expecting help, assistance and care and get hit with the reality of poor care from the Veteran Health Administration and Department of Defense.
Every year the NURSE Corps provides underprivileged Americans with charismatic, hard-working, and qualified nurses. These underserved communities go without health essentials such as vaccines or basic checkups due to a lack of medical professionals. Thankfully, there are people who are willing to get involved to effectively bring healthcare improvements to towns and cities across the United States. However, it takes a special kind of person to touch the lives of the underserved. People and families who strive for basic necessities need someone who can take charge of a situation. They need someone who has experience working with people in their situation and will listen to their needs. Furthermore, underprivileged populations need someone who is devoted to