Victor--Doesn't sound to me like anything you need to be sorry for --I wan't really complaining--the care I received in general was wonderful--it is like any other occupation in the world--some people love what they are doing and do it remarkably well--others do what they have to to get by--others just stink.

Victor, you obviously do a good job & care, but not all do or are pro-vet. I saw a patient left in his bed when he needed help to go to the bathroom, then when he could hold it no longer (An hour had gone by since his first call) and tried to get up and go himself, he soiled himself, ended up bleeding and got it all over the bathroom... Then the nurses took an hour to clean the patient up. Another nurse was flat out mean to a patient that had served in WWII. He could barely speak, and she was ready to cart him back to his room without dinner because he told her he was still hungry and couldn't feed himself.... I fed him after requesting permission from this nurse to do so and she said "if you really want to, but he's fine." I saw yet another patient that called the nurses repeatedly for help because his bag was full and he was having problems with his catheter and it ended up spilling on the floor... Another nurse took a chair into a room for a visitor that had blood on it.
Perhaps these four different nurses and these four separate incidents were anomolies, and I hope they were... But I know it doesn't count in your case and that is very good... At least they are getting good care somewhere.
kat-well said!!!

Satrina, I think you get good & bad in all walks of life. I have had relatives in hospital who have not always received the best of treatment.

When my uncle was dying in hospital, he asked for a cup of tea. They brought it, put it on his table, waited for it to go cold, then took it away. They didn't consider helping him to drink it.

When my Dad, his brother, was dying in hospital, he asked for a cup of tea. He was calling for a drink all night. No-one came to him.

When my Mum and I asked a doctor about something, she replied, in his hearing, something about not doing whatever it was because he was dying anyway.

These were just ordinary men in ordinary hospitals. My Dad's was particularly well thought of and the nurses there were mostly very, very good.

Unfortunately, some carers are not particularly caring. They are overworked and underpaid. Luckily, there are also the nursing 'angels'.

Yes, I think that the problems mentioned are certainly not unique to the VA Hospitals - it is a universal issue - with more and more aging patients, fewer nurses, and doctors working exceedingly long hours. In fact - you could make the analogy to the topic of this thread - just as soldiers who are otherwise good and decent individuals, when placed under unfathomable stress become irrational, short tempered and make mistakes and show poor judgement - a similar phenomenon happens in hospitals. You take doctors who went into medicine for honorable reasons, make them work 100-120 hours/week, take nurses who are running around trying to take care of 20 patients at once, all trying their best, it wears them down and they too, begin to lose judgement, act out of anger, and appear to be different than they were just a few years before. Its all about the physical and mental stress - and I would say physical stress is the number one problem. At least that's what I have seen. I ask anybody to work 100 hour work weeks for several years and see what kind of person you become.
Anyways - the other interesting point for me is how differently medical people and non-medical people judge care. My neighbor had a heart attack. He ended up having bypass surgery at a local private hospital. His surgeon brought him a teddy bear the next day (I think that must be the surgeon's standard gift or something like that). My neighbor just loved the surgeon for that, and thought he was getting the best care. I am close friends with my neighbor so I offerred to review his medications. Turned out he was not sent home on any of the standard medications for post-heart attack patients - meds which have been proven to save lives. Despite all the fluff and show of that private surgeon, he was really quite terrible - he would have received failing marks by any standard medical measures. I was just shocked. My neighbor would have received far better care at the VA hospital (minus the teddy bear).
So yes I agree all the stories of waiting for hours, etc, etc are terrible - but in some ways, those still need to be judged as secondary to the quality of medical decision making - things which can save lives.