00:00
One of the best quotes I've ever
seen is "Their freedom is not free."
And I think sometimes we
forget about that. Right?
We all enjoy the freedom and
privileges that we have
and I have heard people talk about
veterans saying that they feel entitled.
00:21
Well, my humble opinion
is that they are entitled
because it takes a very brave and courageous
person to go out and sacrifice so much
so that we can all enjoy the
privileges that we enjoy.
00:34
So we do need to keep that in
the forefront of our minds
their freedom is not free and that should inspire
us to be more open to the experiences of veterans,
military personnel, and also the families of
veterans especially from a healthcare perspective.
00:50
So I'm going to use these VA mission
and values to talk about or highlight
or emphasize some of the ethical values or virtues
that I've talked about in some previous segments.
01:03
So, the mission is to fulfill
President Lincoln's promise,
"To care for him who shall have
born the battle and for his widow
and his orphan by serving and honoring the
men and women who are America's veterans."
So, when we talk about approaching healthcare
no matter what your discipline is,
we need to think about that "Honor the men
and women who are America's veterans."
And that doesn't have, it
doesn't label anything. Right?
All it talks about is veterans, and
some of those core values are integrity
which you've heard me mentioned
before in terms of diversity, equity,
inclusion, and belonging,
work commitment.
01:41
Being committed to that care
and equitable care. Right?
We're still talking in the realm of that.
You've heard me mentioned the word advocacy
because we do have to do that for each other
regardless to what environment or arena we're in,
but it's so important when we talk about
advocating for any vulnerable population.
02:00
And while I say that
word vulnerable,
I want to say that sometimes people are
like "Oh, vulnerable is offensive."
It's not, it's a reality.
02:08
So anybody that's sick especially if you're
really sick, you're in a vulnerable state.
02:13
Children are often in
vulnerable states.
02:17
Older adults are in
vulnerable states.
02:19
People who live with disabilities
are often in vulnerable states.
02:23
Does that mean you're weak?
No, absolutely not.
02:25
It means that we may need to advocate for people
those of us who are not in a vulnerable position.
02:32
Advocate for the health and safety of
people who are in a vulnerable state.
02:37
When I'm a patient in a
hospital, I'm vulnerable.
02:39
So just thinking about all those ways that
that is applicable in a lot of situations.
02:45
So I have had agreed to disagree and have had
conversations with people about that and I stick to that.
02:52
Then respect is another
one of those virtues.
02:55
You've heard me mentioned that and
then we talked about excellence.
02:59
Well inclusive excellence in this excellence
applies to providing excellent care
and that means
inclusive excellence.
03:07
And when you put those values
together is the "I care" statement.
03:10
So that's very very important
that we think about that
when we're caring for veterans, active
military personnel, and for their families.