VA Mental Health Provider Venting / Problem-solving / Peer Support Thread

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Sanman said:
Going through my email, just got an email blast about the next "Aspiring supervisor training course" being open. Anyone interested in training to be a future VA supervisor? Anyone? Bueller? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
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Is this their indirect way of firing people by getting them to agree to be supervisors so that they therefore are no longer clinical employees?
 
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cara susanna said:
Have any of you ever heard of Neurotrax testing?
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Yeah, just another way for MD/OTs to band together to do something they really don't understand, and possibly harm patients with their misinterpretations of data which really hasn't been validated on adequate clinical samples.
 
WisNeuro said:
Yeah, just another way for MD/OTs to band together to do something they really don't understand, and possibly harm patients with their misinterpretations of data which really hasn't been validated on adequate clinical samples.
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Yeah, that's what I thought. We got a request for it in the community and I have zero idea how to proceed (since I'm the one who does clinical triage for these things).
 
cara susanna said:
Yeah, that's what I thought. We got a request for it in the community and I have zero idea how to proceed (since I'm the one who does clinical triage for these things).
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I mean, the VA pays for reiki and acupuncture, might as well add some neuro-related wastes of money with poor empirical backing.
 
Why not actually do neuropsych testing? Too expensive to hire them?
 
cara susanna said:
Why not actually do neuropsych testing? Too expensive to hire them?
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Most VA npsych departments have far shorter waitlists than our community clinics. Even so, I'd wager a neuropsychologist who takes insurance will be a far lower expense than the medical and OT appointments that would happen with the neurotrax garbage.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
Neurotrax is just another trash software sold to neurology and related practices who want to feel like they are doing something for their patients. Garbage in, garbage out.
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I had a patient who had a lot of unneeded worry caused by results of that software. I did a deep dive into the testing results and discovered this provider has misinterpreted the score due to not understanding the mechanics of the test design.
 
tn15an said:
I had a patient who had a lot of unneeded worry caused by results of that software. I did a deep dive into the testing results and discovered this provider has misinterpreted the score due to not understanding the mechanics of the test design.
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Pssh, why even worry about things like kurtosis, ceiling/floor effects, or the myriad of other issues that affect interpretation? The report with pretty color graphs says x.
 
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Pragma said:
Are chaplains being harassed at high frequency?
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When it comes to the most persecuted religious class in the US, even once is too much. How are christians supposed to have their voices heard when only about 85% of Congress is christian? When will we stop persecuting this powerless, voiceless group? Oh, the humanity!
 
WisNeuro said:
When it comes to the most persecuted religious class in the US, even once is too much. How are christians supposed to have their voices heard when only about 85% of Congress is christian? When will we stop persecuting this powerless, voiceless group? Oh, the humanity!
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They need to start ramping up now bc of the oppressive and violent “War On Christmas” that happens eeeeeeeeeevery year. Christians being told to go back to their country, that they aren’t real Americans, etc.

Oh wait, that’s what MAGA “Christians” do to other religions. My bad about the confusion.
 
cara susanna said:
Does this mean they're gonna start giving us holiday leave on Christian holy days?
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I feel like they are more interested in providing type of hospitality that the Romans showed Jesus. It turned out so well for the Roman empire.
 
WisNeuro said:
When it comes to the most persecuted religious class in the US, even once is too much. How are christians supposed to have their voices heard when only about 85% of Congress is christian? When will we stop persecuting this powerless, voiceless group? Oh, the humanity!
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Don't forget that we now have *gasp* Muslims *gasp* in elected roles in the US and elsewhere. The horror! How dare they!
 
I'm starting to hear some horror stories about the current/upcoming upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Anybody experience this yet and have it go smoothly or can share what helped to navigate issues caused by the update?
 
summerbabe said:
I'm starting to hear some horror stories about the current/upcoming upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Anybody experience this yet and have it go smoothly or can share what helped to navigate issues caused by the update?
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It has not gone well for me. My poor laptop had a big drop in performance. They gave me a new one that didn't really fix the issue. I'm just living with it now. It seems to be getting less bad over time. I just leave it at work turned on so they can keep rolling out fixes.
 
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summerbabe said:
I'm starting to hear some horror stories about the current/upcoming upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Anybody experience this yet and have it go smoothly or can share what helped to navigate issues caused by the update?
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Old hardware and new software combinations never run well. Windows 11 is making new systems use a lot of memory.
 
cara susanna said:
Another Monday, another round of "did someone cancel or was this slot just never filled in the first place?"
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At least in the neuro realm, people will try to get waiver evaluations for the citizenship exam due to reported cognitive issues. There are other hardship waiver types that are more psych evals,
 
WisNeuro said:
At least in the neuro realm, people will try to get waiver evaluations for the citizenship exam due to reported cognitive issues. There are other hardship waiver types that are more psych evals,
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I think you were trying to reply to me in the other thread, lol (been there!)
 
Sanman said:
About to get no showed for the second time in a row for a guy that only showed up for intake and has now missed all of his therapy sessions.
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Tell the MSAs to stop rescheduling him? Our facility can stop calling to reschedule or making scheduling attempts after x amount of sessions, I just can’t remember how many—I haven’t done therapy in two years or so. I hope you have that kind of policy there. Good luck!
 
DoubtfulDoc said:
Tell the MSAs to stop rescheduling him? Our facility can stop calling to reschedule or making scheduling attempts after x amount of sessions, I just can’t remember how many—I haven’t done therapy in two years or so. I hope you have that kind of policy there. Good luck!
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You sweet summer child - Veterans must be coddled nonstop!
 
DoubtfulDoc said:
Tell the MSAs to stop rescheduling him? Our facility can stop calling to reschedule or making scheduling attempts after x amount of sessions, I just can’t remember how many—I haven’t done therapy in two years or so. I hope you have that kind of policy there. Good luck!
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Unfortunately, I believe the answer is three times.
 
Apparently now we aren't allowed to have Teams photos that aren't blank/nothing (our initials) or an official VA photo (which I've never even had the opportunity to get)
 
AsOneDoes said:
Apparently now we aren't allowed to have Teams photos that aren't blank/nothing (our initials) or an official VA photo (which I've never even had the opportunity to get)
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I am sure the support staff that would usually do this will be cut and/or have already quit??? This kind of thing isn't a "selfie" operation...ya?
 
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