Reflection On Active Discharge

Much of my work during my internship thus far has been behind the scenes, mostly finding suitable placements for patients on the active discharge list. Therefore, my one on one interactions with patients has been minimal at best. However, thinking back to my first month at Western State Hospital (WSH), I remember a patient who was having trouble with being discharged. Before, I go on about this case, one should be aware that I never worked with this patient what so ever on a one on one basis. Thus, being prior service I felt this connect with this patient because he too prior service. The patient was at WSH because he was experiencing psychotic symptoms relating from his combat injuries, he suffered when his parachute failed to deploy properly …show more content…
The patient and I had similar military backgrounds with me too being an Army Ranger, and medically discharged because of injuries sustained while in combat. Knowing there was a fellow service member in need of help, lit a fire in me. I began to ask Mike more questions about the patient and learned more about the barriers he had for discharge. Mike described the barriers the hospital was having with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) I had an answer for each of the barriers. Mike was amazed of how much information I had regarding the VA and the procedures for attaining benefits. Now, I by no means am an expert in the VA system, however, I am a veteran who also utilizes the same benefits, thus knows how to navigate through the bureaucracy within the …show more content…
military and veteran hospitals), thus the VA felt he was a danger to staff and would not supply him with the adequate resources for six months after being discharged from the hospital. At this time, the patient had been at WSH for over a year without an incident or outburst of anger, yet the VA felt this was because of his environment and he would/could be different in a home setting. When I heard that the VA was stipulating benefits I became really pissed off. I was pissed because his injuries were combat related, therefore, the VA should be treating his injuries, which includes the side effects of the TBI, which are the anger outburst and violent behaviors. I vented my frustration to Mike and he stated, “This is what we have been going through for six months now.” Not one who lets adversity get the best of him, I put on my social work cap and began to research more on the VA benefits and the patient’s benefits. During my research I came across a note from his social worker stating the patient is 100% and Tri-Care for life. This would be the moment that changed the entire outcome for this patient, because Tri-Care is not the VA it is a private insurance company. I called Tri-Care and talked to a representative named Marcy, who was completely taken by surprise when I told her about the situation I was in. Marcy began to set up all the aftercare assessments and gave the