slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I read this, hoping afterwards that it was 'fake news.' I am waiting & hoping to be convinced it is.
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Published December 04, 2016 Associated Press

TALIHINA, Okla. – Four staff members have resigned from a southeastern Oklahoma veterans facility rather than face the possibility of getting fired, after a resident was found to have maggots in a wound.

Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs executive director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the patient was alive at the facility in Talihina, about 130 miles southeast of Tulsa. Deering said the maggots were not the cause of his death.

Deering said the Veteran came to the center with an infection and died of sepsis, the Tulsa World reported.

The agency said a physician's assistant and three nurses, including the director of nursing, resigned after an investigation was conducted. Spokesman Shane Faulkner said all four chose to resign before the termination process began.

The incident was reported to the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the district attorney for LeFlore and Latimer counties to determine if any charges should be filed.

Raymie Parker identified the late Veteran as his father, Owen Reese Peterson. He died Oct. 3 at age 73.

"During the 21 days I was there ... I plead with the medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his bandages could be changed," Parker said. "I was met with a stonewall for much of that time."

Deering said the agency has been considering moving from the nearly 100-year-old facility, because fixing the existing building would take millions of dollars. (State) Senator Frank Simpson said the facility was also faced with the inability to find and retain staff.

AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

Supposedly Secretary McDonald was going to deal with these issues. Apparently yet another unfulfilled promise.

This is APPALLING!!!

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

No one does anything during an election year, except talk, and spend 100's of millions of dollars on advertising and other PR.................oh, and die. Perhaps we need a Constitutional amendment requiring politicians to spend half of their campaign money on Veterans, since they can't be relied on to spend any money on them AFTER they're elected. Or maybe an amendment requiring the Congress to allot the VA $1 for every $100 spent on defense stuff, like wars and what not. Either amendment would increase the VA's budget by several billion dollars a year, giving someone the ability to hire and train competent staff - and entice Federal prosecutors to charge reckless and negligent staff with crimes, rather than just letting them resign.

Military personnel are the first tool pulled out of the politicians toolbox, and those that survive this "diplomacy", are the last personnel to be awarded any consideration afterwards. That's decidedly ass backwards, isn't it?

pickmeup Loc: Mid Michigan

"During the 21 days I was there ... I plead with the medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his bandages could be changed," Parker said. "I was met with a stonewall for much of that time."



I don't see what increasing his medication has to do with his bandages being changed. Bandages should be changed regularly.

AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

What needs to happen is relegate union employees to The unemployment line. The reports of the amount of time they spend, during work hours, on union activities is beyond the pale. Then hire some recently retired senior level NCOs to go in and reorganize and manage the facilities, as well as use the money saved by ridding VA of these lazy slugs to hire more competent medical staff.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

pookee

a lot of hospitals are lax in keeping patients alive. unless u have a family member there watching things for the patient.. a lot of times things will never get done...I was having knee surgery n my two girls took turn staying day n night to make sure of how I was well taken care of... my BP dropped to such a low low ..n no one was monitoring it at the desk or checking it in my room. but my daughter was n she screamed at them to get in there to see my BP... cause it had dropped down so low one wouldn't even know I was alive.. the dr finally came in there n he kept saying I don't know what to do...over n over he said this n my daughter yelled at him. YOU better know what to do.. he called someone for help but they didn't know anything either so he yanked the tubes of pain medicine out..then it went back up.. so it's very easy for Dr's n nurses to totally ignore the helpless... unless u have some family member in there there's no telling how many have died cause of neglect... most all hospitals have monitors at the desk out in the hall so they can check on a person's blood pressure in case the nurse is busy somewhere else. ... but apparently the nurse at the desk was not doing her duty either..

pookee

How sad it is that the life of others are so meaningless.. the nurses just stand around n collect a pay check.. best thing a person can do is hire a "practical nurse" not sure what u call that.. but it a nurse but not an RN... to stay with u day n night.. the two few times I had to have surgery I had a practical nurse stay there day n night so that the RN would be there when the practical nurse notified her of something that needed immediate attention that she wasn't capable of doing.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

That is why I never renewed my RN license, keeping my LPN license up to date instead. I was raised old school, where patient care was #1 priority and the LPN the patients advocate, often browbeating doctors and other professionals into doing the right thing at the right time. Back then, this was tolerated, because everyone had patient care as their #1 goal. As an RN, I had to do the administrative political dance, trading patient care for paperwork care, ensuring that every single bandaid was properly billed and other crap, which was not what I signed up for. I have never saved a persons life through a properly filled out billing summary. As a LPN, a true nurse, I have saved countless lives, which was what I HAD signed up for.

When lawyers and accountants took control of healthcare, it all went to shit, forcing healthcare professionals to become bookkeepers and billing technicians, leaving patients and their families to care for themselves. There is more attention to details making the insurance carriers happy, than there is in making the patients happy, with a resulting lack of safety and professionalism. For years, I have advised patients to be their own advocate, asking questions and demanding answers, finding out everything they can about their condition and treatment, seeking other opinions and ensuring that they have someone with them to observe at all times - because they no longer have an advocate in any of the staff. Nurses are now trained to follow facility protocol religiously, and defer to Doctors in the same manner they would God, so there is no room for patient care - or concern. They spend more time and money preparing a lawsuit defense, in situ, than they do preventing the need for suits in the first place.

Many Veterans do not have anyone to advocate for them, or anyone savvy enough to do so effectively. This is where former Navy Corpsmen and Army/Air Force medics can play a role, by volunteering as advocates in VA facilities. My local VA cringes when they see me coming.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Sadly, Doc, too few are as dedicated and devoted to patient care as you. I knew that well before we actually met. Our meeting only confirmed what I had already known to be true.

mcmlx

He most likely couldn't stand the pain.
Sorry sack o' mess their staff is.

jets04

Maggot wound therapy is legitimate(if done purposely and correctly). Maggots eat the dead flesh and exude a sulpha-like antibiotic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN4SBziXjog

mcmlx

Yes. LEGITIMATELY.

Alicia Loc: NYC

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Thanks for that site. I considered responding on the same purpose of benefits of maggots.

I once found a kitten who had shoved his arm through his neck collar and was terribly cut up in the area under its arm. I brought it to a vetranarian and was told that had it not been for the maggots, the kitten would have had extensive infection. Maggot therapy has been in existence for many years.