U.S. military conflicts abroad have left nine million Americans dependent on the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for medical care. Their "wounds of war" are treated by the largest hospital system in the country—one that has come under fire from critics in the White House, on Capitol Hill, and in the nation's media. The resulting public...

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: What Kind of Care for Veterans?
1. Promises Broken and Kept: A Short History of the VHA
2. Those Who Have Borne the Battle: The VHA's Patient Population
Profile—What It Means to Be a VA Volunteer
3. Primary Care the Way It Should Be
4. Healing Minds and Bodies: Integrated Mental Health Care and Primary Care
5. Dealing with a World of Hurt: VHA Treatment of Chronic Pain
6. When Wounded Warriors Are Women: Caring for Female Veterans
7. Mental Health the Way It Should Be
8. Unpacking PTSD: From Diagnosis to Effective Treatment
Profi le—Karen Parko: A Special Kind of Professional Development at the VA
9. Returning to Civilian Life: Veterans on Campus
10. Suicide Prevention: VHA Programs That Save Lives
11. Overcoming Disability: VA Rehabilitation Services
Profile—Mark Smith: No Ordinary Bike Shop
12. Transcending Trauma: The Martinez Cognitive Rehabilitation Program
13. Off the Streets: Reducing Veteran Homelessness
14. Alternatives to Jail: Veterans' Justice Programs
Profile—Cops and Vets: The Memphis Crisis Intervention Model
15. Specializing in Elder Care: The VA and Geriatrics
16. Knocking on Heaven's Door: The VA and End-of-Life Care
17. Better Care Where? The VHA Compared to the Private Sector
Conclusion: A System Worth Saving—and Making Even Better
Epilogue: Thank You for Your Service?
Notes
Index
About the Author

Wounds of War is a significant contribution. It intersperses 'boots on the ground' stories from providers, volunteers, family members, and veterans receiving care—and enhances typically dry data about all aspects of VA care. I have never read something that so wonderfully ties it all together. It’s a true work of art.

The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work explores the historical, social, political, and economic forces that shape health care work and organizations. Focusing on the work of professional and nonprofessional staff as well as family caregivers, the series illuminates how the culture of health care work affects the structuring of health policy and practice. In an increasingly global marketplace, the series also seeks to better understand the international context within which all health systems function. Looking at health policy and the health professions from a variety of perspectives, including first-person accounts, the series is aimed at a wide audience including those who work in health care, academics, policy makers, and professional organizations, as well as general readers. Proposals and inquiries about the series should be sent to Suzanne Gordon (lsupport@comcast.net) or Sioban Nelson (dean.nursing@utoronto.ca) Series Editors Suzanne Gordon is an award-winning journalist whose work focuses on the health care work force, political culture, and women's issues. She is author of Life Support:Three Nurses on the Front Lines and Nursing against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care, coauthor of Safety in Numbers:Nurse-to-Patient Ratios and the Future of Health Care and From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public, editor of When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough: Stories of Nurses Standing Up for Themselves, Their Patients, and Their Profession, and coeditor (with Sioban Nelson) of The Complexities of Care: Nursing Reconsidered. Sioban Nelson is Dean and Professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. Her books include, as coeditor, The Complexities of Care: Nursing Reconsidered and Notes on Nightingale: The Influence and Legacy of a Nursing Icon.