Speaking truth to health policy

Speaking Truth to Health Policy: Helping Veterans Readjust

Every day, at least 20 combat veterans commit suicide in the United States, or one veteran every 65 seconds (Shane & Kime, 2016). This alarming trend is attributable in large part to the symptoms that many people suffer from after experiencing traumatic episodes in their lives. Drawing on the sources of power enumerated by Mason, Gardner, Hopkins Outlaw and O'Grady (2016).This paper provides a current description concerning the health policy adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in response to this nation-wide problem to determine how the situation could benefit from having nurses speak truth to power. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning this issue are presented in the conclusion.

The condition currently known as posttraumatic stress disorder is certainly not a new construct. In World War I, the condition was termed "shell shock" and in World War II it was referred to as "battle fatigue." When clinicians were finally able to classify this disorder formally, it became known as posttraumatic stress disorder (Miller, 2013). Unfortunately, current estimates of the number of veterans who take their own lives may be severely flawed, due in large part to the types of behaviors that combat veterans engage in following discharge from active service. As Bare (2015) points out, current estimates of veteran suicides are fundamentally flawed. For instance, according to Miller (2013), "Army studies that show how more soldiers have taken their own lives than have died in combat in Afghanistan. How different would these numbers be if high-risk behaviors linked to PTSD, such as drunk driving deaths were also included?" (p. 92). Given that the problem is well documented, it remains unclear why so many veterans continue to take their own lives every day, especially since the VA has been tasked with identifying the antecedents of suicide. As Miller (2013) emphasizes, "PTSD is much more widespread and serious than many care to admit. Although there have been key steps forward, the present measures are not yet as effective as they should be" (p. 93).

"Not yet effective as they should be," though, is a poor apology and an inadequate excuse -- the problem is clear and growing in intensity every day yet tens of thousands of veterans are sacrificed on the altar of the national consciousness each year. Because the VA is the largest healthcare provider in the United States today, VA nurses can make a major difference by speaking out against current VA policies that deny timely care to veterans in need. At present, VA nurses therefore are on the front lines of advocating for additional support and resources for the nation's veteran population, but it seems that even the most ardent advocacy is like a whisper in the wind. Rather than just whispering, VA nurses must join together to address this nation-wide issue.

Advocacy can assume a number of different forms, varying in degrees from writing constituents' members of congress as well as providing monetary support to recognized national nursing organizations such as the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses, the Academy Of Neonatal Nursing, the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing, the American Association Of Nurse Life Care Planners, the American Assembly For Men in Nursing, the American Assisted Living Nurses Association, and the American Association for the History of Nursing (List of nursing organizations, 2016).