How Will Universal Health Care Change Nursing?

1rrrn - What if Doctors and Nurses got control of the system instead of the insurance companies trying to ram people through the production line? What if drug companies had fair prices and fewer side effects? It is going to get better for patients and therefore nurses! But, I wouldn't count on 1000 bed hospitals being there forever.

What planet are you on? Universal healthcare will mean the government trying to ram people trhough the production line - I know I work in the NHS. Doctors and nurses have very little say in anything here- government targets must be met at all costs, and if the illness/diagnosis you have doesnt have a target - well you may as well forget quality care.
The drug companies will continue to make their money, irregardless of who is paying them, the drug companies extract billions out of our government every day.
Having worked in the NHS and in the US, I can tell you where I would prefer to have my insurance and my health care and it is NOT THE NHS!! And I can also say that my worst employer in the US was 50 times better than any of my employers in the UK.

I don't want something for free. I want for people who cannot afford insurance to be able to get insurance.

Just FYI the Obama admin health system is not going to be "free." It will be sliding scale based on income. The lower the income the lower the out-of-pocket cost. There will be a percentage who get it for free, as they have nothing.

Also, this system as the Obama admin has set forth will not shut down free enterprise. There will still be other insurance options for those who can afford it, and want it. You can get private insurance in the UK as well.

I wonder if the US government is driving private medicine out of business so that they can take over everything. Look at the reductions in what they will pay for medicaid and medicare. If they aren't doing it on purpose, then their doing it on accident. They are obviously bankrupting the private health care system for some reason. Anyone know?

What rubbish. I have lived most of my life in a country with UHC (and also private insurance, if you want) and we don't even have "physician extenders". We certainly are not loaded into trucks going to some drab government health building haha. You can even choose your doctor and make appointments so you don't have to wait!!

The system of sliding scale payment for health care already exists in the US. It is the system found in the Community Health Centers. Based on your level of income you pay a certain amount. A clinic visit can cost you $5 if you are a family of 4 and below the poverty line and as much as 100% if you are a family of 4 with good income. The clinic is staffed with young physicians and NPs. Lot of Residents moonlighting. You can actually get pretty good care there.

However, this is where "poor" people go. Middle class and up go to their private physician. Insurance pays. Their copays are anywhere from $15 to $50. The waiting room is nice and usually has a flat screen TV.

Just like the "dumbing down of America" within the public school system perputated by the federal government and the educators unions you will see a "leveling" of the health care provision field. Eventually, under UHC, we will all go to the big building in town, sit in an overcrowded waiting room for hours, be seen by a "physician extender" and treated for our ailement. This is the promise of health care reform.