A veteran died alone
In July 2016 a veteran died alone in a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, unattended and unchecked for many hours while a nurse played video games at the nursing station … for her whole shift. Doctor's instructions had been to check the patient once or twice an hour. No one even knew the veteran had passed away until the next shift took over.
The nurse only admitted to playing computer games
• It was 20th-century American journalist, editor and writing teacher Brenda Ueland who made the following sage observation: “Inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.”
• If you heard the word “pantophobia,” you might (logically) assume that it means a fear of pants. You'd be only partially correct; because the hospital cameras caught her. She was transferred to work in the cafeteria but, once the truth came out, investigations began, pushed forward by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
VA chief David Shulkin takes the allegations seriously … OK. But here's a suggestion: If you have a friend or relative in a VA hospital who is in such serious shape that they aren't able to press the call button, don't leave. Schedule watchers around the clock. Run shifts of friends, relatives, church members, American Legion or VFW members, or others. When nursing staff comes in, ask questions.
If you're told that “visiting hours” are over, refuse to leave until a doctor reads the chart in front of you and tells you that however, those who suffer from pantophobia are, presumably, afraid of pants — but that's just because they're afraid of everything.
• You might be surprised to learn that the first Model T Fords weren't black — they were green with red stripes.
• If you're thinking of starting a business and want to get up and running right away, there's a company ready to help you get started. Novanym, a branding firm based in Farnborough, England, can provide you with a unique name and its matching .com domain — even your choice of three logos for your fledgling venture. For less than $700 you can brand your company as Aquinique, Spiranti or Fenmarch. Have a more generous staff has indeed been doing what's required to care for the patient. Take notes and get names. In other words, make waves and get attention. Let them know someone is watching. Yes, the patient might be so ill that death is inevitable, but do everything you can to ensure that proper care is being given.
William Nutter, the veteran who died alone at the Bedford VA Medical Center in Massachusetts, was a two-tour Vietnam veteran who later completed 21 years in the Reserves. In Vietnam, he was a door gunner who got drenched with Agent Orange too often. He left a wife and family.
We owed him more than this. budget? Try Mupkin, Cubexis or Zeqon, all in the $5,000 range. If you really want to go all-out — and are in the right industry — try Motaway for $25,727, or even Investment Etc., which is going for nearly $40,000.
• You might be surprised to learn that if you add up all the deaths that are caused worldwide by tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS, the total would be less than a third of those attributable to pollution, which accounts for 16 percent of all global deaths.
•••
Thought for the Day:
“Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars.”
— Gwendolyn Brooks