>> From-----------@hotmail.

com>
> >> Date: April 27, 2016 at 9:11:20 PM CDT
> >> To------@osc.com>
> >> Subject: Severe concerns regarding VA Memphis, Spinal cord Injury Unit
> >>
> >>
> >> Mr. -----,
> >>
> >> I was given your email address by a trusted friend and former associate from the VA Memphis. I
sure hope you can help me, us (there are many) and mostly the Veterans.
> >>
> >> I can and will send more information soon, but just for starters, please consider this information
that I am sharing with you.
> >>
> >> I have always considered myself a "tough nurse"....not tough to patients, but tough in the sense
that I thought I had seen some of the worst and most heart breaking situations possible; I had been a
trauma nurse in a large Emergency Department and later at a Pediatric Hospital Emergency Department
in the city of Memphis. I went to work at the VA in Memphis after my Daddy (yes, I still call him Daddy),
was a patient there.....long story short, he nearly died, but he was lucky and had a very good medical
team, but the VA employees were another story. So many things happened to my Daddy during that
stay - so many not so good things, but he made it and is still living to this day and will be 86 in
June. Daddy was on strict bed rest...STRICT!, but I walked in one morning before I went to my job, and
the nursing assistant was yelling at him to walk to the bathroom.....(remember, Bed rest?) - well of
course, I said something about that, then I said that even if he wasn't on bed rest, he can only walk with
his walker or full arm crutches. My Daddy is a very modest man and wanted his pajama bottoms on,
but could not move his leg....(at all) to put them on, ...... 3 days it took to get those pajamas on him,
those pants stayed on the foot of the bed for 3 days!....I offered to help him, but like I said, he is modest
and said, "no, you're my daughter". Daddy was also afraid while he was there, evidently, he was
threatened by the staff because they thought he had complained about the care.....he didn't, I did! After
working there, I found out that this really does happen, and routinely at that! Daddy was finally
diagnosed and treated.....acquired hemophilia....very touch and go for a bit. My point? I experienced
some of these things from the "other side", before I worked there. I wanted to work there because
hardly anyone ever smiled, people were rude to patients, families, and even to each other, and I
thought I could make a difference. I KNOW I made a difference in many lives, but it was not enough,
that place is too broken.
> >>
> >> I worked there approximately eight and a half years with the last 1-1/2 to 2 years being the hardest
and worst for many of us, this includes patients. The men and women, the Veterans of the United
States for goodness sakes!, were and are being used as experimental bodies, are treated harshly in
many cases and even stolen from! We are not doing them "right"!! After working there for 3 months or
less.....I would not allow my Daddy to go there for any inpatient needs! My Daddy is a Retired Navy
Veteran, served in Korea and Vietnam Nam, he deserves more...just as many others do...of course he
has been denied benefits and privileges based on whatever someone thinks his benefits "should" be;
example - he was told once by employee that he was just trying to "milk" the system (he couldn't even
walk without crutches....was injured while on active duty, suffers with effects from Agent Orange and
many other things), and some inept person has the power to make that decision???? I find that
ridiculous! My daddy now has dementia, but at that time, he walked out using his crutches after telling
this guy that he doesn't want anything he is not entitled to and left. My Daddy is extremely PROUD of
his service and I am also very Proud of him - and he IS entitled to those benefits....How many others
has this or some other horror story happened to? I can name a few!
> >>

> >> Mr. G (perforated bowel after a traumatic bowel training session performed by a nursing assistanthe also nearly died and now lives with a colostomy and a chronic wound); Mr. S(deceased after having
a surgery that he did not want, but had developed confusion - surgeons had him sign a permit for
surgery even though he was confused! He was too emaciated to be having any surgery); Mr. H
(deceased after being at the VA Spinal Cord Unit 1-W, he was discharged and less than a month later,
was in another hospital dying with a diagnosis of cancer that was so advanced, there was no hope of
survival-why wasn't this diagnosed while an inpatient at VA Memphis?);Jerry Chester (basically just
ignored and put off by his physician.....now deceased); Chester Seats (now deceased had a heart attack
while on Spinal Cord - he had been complaining - had surgery and was not cardiac monitored during
any stay while on Spinal Cord Unit.....we did not have equipment for heart monitoring, even though so
many of our patients might still be here if we had it or if they were transferred to a cardiac floor); Mr.
Billy Bearden (now deceased, had surgery too, but didn't really want it, was told that he really should
have it....but where is the right of the patient? He was afraid something would happen and if memory
serves me, he was dead within 3 days after surgery); Mr. JS (also deceased, had a change in mental
status, which I personally reported in the very beginning and several more times as it progressed over
weeks, then months......something was going on with him whether it was infection/sepsis, stroke, or
who knows?? - he also had surgery!) The doctors would not listen to us - they were more concerned
that the Spinal Cord Injury Unit maintained a "good" census to keep the money coming in. These
patients need to be monitored at least 24 hours post op (our unit did not have the equipment or staff to
do this)....even up to 72 hours post op; we had some patients who bled profusely after their surgery,
some had cardiac issues, some got infections...... The female doctors (except Dr. Justice who ALWAYS
saw the patients with a genuine concern) would hardly ever go INSIDE a patient room, much less
examine them for fear of "getting something and taking it home to my kids" - why are they doctors?
> >>
> >> Sadly, the more money made in the unit (any unit), and the more money saved (by cutting staffing,
supplies-even essentials and necessities), the more the management got to pocket by receiving a big (I
mean BIG) bonus. Yet, I was there over 8 years, and never ever got a raise unless it was mandated for
everyone! I know I did a good job, I'm a good nurse, I taught other nurses many things....but
management has their favorites.....that's ok though, b/c I KNOW in my HEART that I did good things for
my patients, took good care of them, treated them with kindness and respect, I ALWAYS had a smile
for them (and I often got comments that they really appreciated my smile) and they knew that they
could trust me. I never got an evaluation on time, and never even got 3 of them.....so where is the
fairness?
> >>
> >> I was harrassed, (called an old white ass nurse), was told "Yes ma'am Massa" (Master) by a black
RN and a black LPN (yes I reported it), and when I was taken off work by my doctor for stress, PTSD,
and more, I was harrassed for that too, harrassed about taking FMLA for my illness/illnesses (it was
denied so many times.....it was finally approved after about 9 months). I asked for reasonable
accommodations....which took forever to get anywhere with that....which was no where! (My doctor
even wrote a statement asking for me to be reassigned)......this was denied by Melissa Taylor who said
"there is no way that I will approve reasonable accommodations for her." I was taken off work by my
doctor for about the last 2 months that I was there, I could not deal with going back to those conditions
(and my doctor didn't think I should either) because I truly believed that it would kill me or at least ruin
my health so badly that I could not ever recover. Management and even the Union (AFGE) would not
answer my questions, would not return phone calls, emails, texts, etc., so I felt forced into resigning. I
feel guilty every day for leaving the Veterans there without a smiling face and trustworthy soul. My
goodness, there is so much more.
> >>
> >> I'm sorry this is so long, but I feel that you need to know these things. The place is corrupt,
broken, sneaky, unfair, and just sick. This hospital needs a hospital....or an INTERVENTION at the very
least. It could be such a wonderful place to work, but there are too many liars and cheaters there and

they for certain, do not care about the patients, our Veterans.
> >>
> >> Thank you for your time and reading about some of my concerns.
> >>
> >> ----------------,
> >> Former employee on Spinal Cord Injury Unit 1-West
> >> I resigned effective --------------.
> >>