Lawmakers blast VA over 'entitlement' mentality on bonuses

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jun 21, 2014

Not really surprising, because AD nurses often write their own OPRs. You pretty much hand your bullets to your supervisor and that's what ends-up on the OPR.

504 medic · Jun 21, 2014

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the bonuses people like me are upset about, went to civilians: middle and upper management, the very people who actively deceived the government, and the nation, about how well care was being dispensed. Those individuals should go to jail...not receive a taxpayer funded bonus. The rank and file providers are the ones who deserve bonuses, if any are to be given.

504 medic · Jun 22, 2014

Speaking of "entitlement"....

I blew my top last week when GOP Senator Jeff Sessions referred to Veteran's Healthcare as an Entitlement...as in they couldn't afford it. If you can afford to ask 900,000 (the tally as of 2012, when the VA stopped releasing figures) Americans to leave a piece of themselves in Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama, Beruit, Vietnam, Korea, etc, for your freedom, you can damn well pay what ever it takes to try to make it right afterwards. The VA might be messed up, but congress is much worse, and there's nobody around to force them to change.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jun 22, 2014

What blew my mind was the idea that government employees (regardless of level) were getting bonuses at all (merit, performance, or otherwise). I had never heard of federal employees getting such bonuses; the rules are absolutely horrendous for us "plebes", who can't take more than an occasional free cup of coffee (which must be offered for a whole department, not even an individual) lest it be viewed as a bribe. As if we could give them anything anyway!

And those people got HOW much??

RunBabyRN · Jun 22, 2014

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the bonuses people like me are upset about, went to civilians: middle and upper management, the very people who actively deceived the government, and the nation, about how well care was being dispensed. Those individuals should go to jail...not receive a taxpayer funded bonus. The rank and file providers are the ones who deserve bonuses, if any are to be given.

Right. These weren't "line level" nurses or anything, these were civilian higher ups, writing their own reviews stating how successful they were, meanwhile the VA healthcare system was/IS crumbling on their watch.

504 medic · Jun 22, 2014

And those people got HOW much??

350 senior executives shared $2.7 million dollars...on top of their $180k salary.

RunBabyRN · Jun 22, 2014

Speaking of "entitlement"....
I blew my top last week when GOP Senator Jeff Sessions referred to Veteran's Healthcare as an Entitlement...as in they couldn't afford it. If you can afford to ask 900,000 (the tally as of 2012, when the VA stopped releasing figures) Americans to leave a piece of themselves in Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama, Beruit, Vietnam, Korea, etc, for your freedom, you can damn well pay what ever it takes to try to make it right afterwards. The VA might be messed up, but congress is much worse, and there's nobody around to force them to change.

There's a meme circulating Facebook that I love that says something along the lines of, "We should give veteran's benefits to Congress and see how quickly things change." It's absolutely shameful how we treat our vets in this country. "Support Our Troops," but screw 'em when they get home. And Congress... There's corruption abound on all sides. That's a whole other topic of discussion! :)

504 medic · Jun 22, 2014

I've wanted Congress to receive standard civil service salary and benefits for years. They'd sooner turn their families over to somali pirates than lose a dime of their platinum parachute. And we reward them every year at the polls for their behavior.