The Truth about working at the " VA"

Patrick, sounds like you have a VA which needs improvement. When a VA is bad or has a problem it goes all over the nation, but if your local hospital has a problem it doesn't make it 50 miles from there. If the US goes to socialized healthcare the whole system will be run like them. Good care but a lot of waste.

I have worked for the VA for ten years. I am a dedicated employee to what the VA does.
The administration and staff leave something to be desired.


THE BAD

1. Housekeeping walks around and goofs off and goes down to smoke all the time.

Sure they do, they have a union to back them up. No fear of reprimand.

2. A stat bed has to wait because the housekeeper is on his or her lunch break.. those lunch breaks seem to
last the entire shift.
3. Secretarys are rude in person and on the phone
4. It is the most politically correct place in the world to the point of being annoying. Every picture has
every demographic represented.
5. Although they deny it, I believe they have a quota system for hiring.

Gee, you think? What hint gave that one away?

6. The administration has no concept of reality when it comes to patient care.
7. People are hired as adminstrators that have no leadership quality what so ever.
8. Time and money are not factors of waste at the VA.
9. The person that works at the front desk in a clinic should be nice to people, all of the time, Some of my
experiences as a veteran have been that this person is normally hostile.

Better service at the drive-thru of McDonald's

10. It seems that no one ever goes above and beyond the call of duty or to meet the standards, the exception being the patient care staff.
11. Housekeepers cant clean rooms worth a darn in the inpatient settings.
12. Some pharmacists are rude to both nurses and patients at times.
13. Alot of VA nurses have only ever worked at the VA, they have no idea how good they have it, none at all.
and when it comes to being pulled or having a heavy assignment every blue moon, all hell breaks loose.
14. It is sad when the union backs up a nurse who is lazy and has a bad attitude but yet can not be fired.

The GOOD

1. Patients are taken care of for the most part
2. Each hospital has a outpatient pharmacy for the veterans, the wait time is long, but they also deliver via
postal service.
3. They spend alot of money rebuilding things, new computer systems, new equipment