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Gea - I have seen Nurses command some hospitals but you are correct to some degree civilian hospitals are run predominately by white males which is why I feel that VA Hospitals should be run by qualified ex MSA (medical service administrative)Officers which provides any vet with the proper experience to be able to step into the VA and work their way to the directorship.
Oh by the way white males have the nursing home administrator positions lock up also
so do *you know why they have a non-vet running the show?? why do you think??
Ah...a conversation about my passion...the VA hospital. The VA did more for me than ever when I was discharged from the military...they were there when I needed them and I am forever devoted to them to enrich the lives of our veterans and keep them safe while receiving care.
I work in the VA and am a Veteran. I definately see a difference in leadership styles. Veterans are less willing to put up with garbage than in the civilian sector. We empathize with the population we are serving. We know the lingo. I have a MS degree and most everyone I know has the same or greater and we have turned our VA from almost the worst on our way up to first. The happened when we shifted from predominately non-va emp to majority VA employees. The areas that lack are those in position by non-americans and non-veterans.
I see civilian (non-military) leadership as obstructionists. I don't care if you went to harvard, can you run a VA (completely different things). A regular hospital administrator can get eaten alive easily if they are not extremely familiar with our veteran populaiton. It is very hard to weave your way around if you are not "in" with the staff. There are great people that are non-military, but they need to be able to conform to a fairly assertive style to make it work. It is about working as a team. The VA recruits vets and non-vets, but always prefers vets.
We know the lingo, can relate to our veterans, they trust veterans and we get the job done. We can be in your face and our vets know we care. they have a shell to crack and often only a vet that can relate can do that. Working with non-vets is a challenge because they are less likely to do team nursing, collaboration and tend to have less compassion for our populations we serve.
I love the VA and all that it has to offer. I offer passion for patient care and feel safe and secure in this environment. If there is a problem, we are not quiet about it, we work together to fix it. I really like the employees at our VA. Yes, we have problems but when you look at performance measures, PSG, etc. we do very well. The VA hides nothing when it comes to data and reporting because we are constantly in the spotlight. If we sneeze wrong, we made the front page. There are always people you will never please, but we have oodles of "patient advocates" to come to their rescue (often at the expense of favoritism of the customer or veteran which is why we are here anyway.
We have a tough population to serve and veterans best serve this population because we can be tough and we can connect them with resources and provide better for their needs.
Vets lead the way...hands down.
Peace, kindness and respect...have a blessed evening. Keep fighting the good fight and working to be the best organization ever.
Last edited by catluvr; 04-17-2009 at 08:51 PM..
Reason: delete a word
CATLUVR, as a fellow vet you have hit the nail right on the head. I just wish that they would remove some of these nonveteran heads from the VA hospital here (esp nursing) where the top can care less about the staff or how their choices affects others....again cudos!!
Gea, I really don't know but here in Pittsburgh the top nurse is not a vet and the way that she runs her position is absolutely ridiculous! Her treatment of her suborbinates is unbelievable. I can honestly say that if she was a vet the patients and her staff would not be so miserable!
Gea, I really don't know but here in Pittsburgh the top nurse is not a vet and the way that she runs her position is absolutely ridiculous! Her treatment of her suborbinates is unbelievable. I can honestly say that if she was a vet the patients and her staff would not be so miserable!
As an outsider, I agree with you. It only makes sense!! I loved Catlover's solilquy! very nicely written!
I realy don't thnim so because the veterans may not be the best peopel to do it.We are talking about runing a multi million dollar operation not some single hospital. that is a completely different clas of operation. That is more like a priavte being said to under understnd his fellow soldiers ;so he should be chief of staff.
So you are saying that a General did not run a multi million dollar business?????
And being a Veteran myself, I think another Veteran would understand where I'm coming from more than a non veteran would.
Houston3--- This is the point that I'm trying to get to people. No one can understand the many things that goes (went) on in the military but other miliatary members. funny b/c even veterans from different services have more in common then non vets
Why do you have to be a Veteran to run an animal clinic. Gee, talk about getting specific, who ever made the rule that you had to be a Veteran to be a Veteranarian, man what is this world coming to. I never heard of any such thing.
Why do you have to be a Veteran to run an animal clinic. Gee, talk about getting specific, who ever made the rule that you had to be a Veteran to be a Veteranarian, man what is this world coming to. I never heard of any such thing.
Being a civilian employed by the federal government at a VA hospital- Here's my 2 cents worth.
Overall- I strongly agree with Veteran's preference. These men & women served our country and should be given top priority when a VA facility is hiring.
That being said I think I think a mixture of both military is civilian employees is most effective. There are issues with Veterans that come up that only a fellow service member could fully understand. Many times it is far more comforting to a vet to have their complaints and concerns handled by someone with whom they share a bond & "gets" the system and lifestyle.
Civilians like me have their roles as well- for instance many Veterans work after leaving the military. Many have commercial insurance as well as their VA benefits. I may not have prior military experience, but I do have 10 years of commercial insurance experience that helps get those bills paid.
I have seen both worse cases- Mr. civilian CEO who is clueless & Veterans who are hired simply because they are Veterans and not because they have job qualifications.
Bottom line- Work as a team. This is getting difficult due to consolidation, outsourcing & 800 #'s, in which our bravest spend unreasonable amounts of time on hold. I will most likely leave the VA due to these issues- but I can't blame this entirely on non military vs. military employees. It seems to be a joint decision.
Last edited by NOEM1226; 04-28-2009 at 09:41 PM..
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