I want to know what nurses think about socialized medicine.

There are several other threads on this topic already going. I'm going to see if I can find one that will merge well with this one. Be right back...

Hello,

To all countries here I wanted to ask, What is your healthcare system like? Do you use a "socialized" healthcare system?

The USA has a capitalistic approach to healthcare and it's not working. I just want to know how other countries do it. How much is your health insurance? How much do u pay to see a Dr? Are u able to find employment? Are u making comparable wages to USA? What do you love? What do you hate?

If you don't want to answer these questions openly, feel free to send PM or email.

Thanks so much for your time in my research efforts!!
Crystal,RN

Okay, I found an OLD thread that has recently been resurrected that fits very well into your query, ratchet41. Go back to the very beginning of the thread and read it through. fergus51's descriptions are bang-on. And to update what I said about my own unit, we've had 3 more pediatric heart transplants and 2 more liver transplants since April 9. We're running our unit with overtime so that we don't have to turn people away. We currently have 2 patients on extra-corporeal life support - they require 2 nurses or a nurse and RT around the clock when they're stable and many, many more when they aren't. We're definitely not rationing anything.

There are so many questions and misconceptions about universal health care; my friend and I were at the AACN's National Teaching Institute in New Orleans last month and when people found out we were from Canada, they immediately wanted to talk about it. It was while we were chatting with three nurses from North Dakota that we decided to submit an abstract for next year's NTI on that topic, so we can dispel some of the myths and expose some of the truths in a large forum. Wish us luck?

Here are some more threads you might want to read:
http://allnurses.com/nursing-blogs/s...hs-392086.html
http://allnurses.com/social-health-c...ed-395442.html
http://allnurses.com/nursing-news/ar...as-393106.html
http://allnurses.com/social-health-c...ght=socialized

464 posts in all. Might take you all day.

In the UK it is national and commonly known as the NHS. Everyone working in the UK should pay National insurance and is usually taken out before you receive your wage. At point of delivery the care is free i.e. you do not pay GP or hospital for services rendered however unless entitled to free medication and you live in Britain then there is a prescription charge per item If you live in Scotland and Wales prescriptions are free. If involved in a road traffic accident there is usually a charge for the ambulance and that is sent at a later date. You can pay for private health insurance

Some links which may help
NHS choice
National Insurance
Deparment of health

HealthCare in USA isn't working?

Doctors and nurses from all over the world want to work in USA. People from other countries come to the USA for surgeries since the USA healthcare is head and shoulders above any other country

Healthcare is working excellent in the USA, You need to broader your horizons before making such comment

It depends on your understanding of "working excellent".
The US has certainly a very advanced healthcare system. Problem is accessibility, not everybody can afford it, and it's very expensive.

5cats

I have seen many posts and several news articles showing that healthcare in the US isn't always working and many are without benefits and hard pushed for health care. I remember seeing a new clip on CNN on a PCP who understands that his patients are having difficulties with money etc and looking at alternative ways for patients to pay even to the extent of not charging anything for their care or accepting payment on what the patient can afford and even taking food as payment.

Why not just search one of the multiple threads on this topic?

There is usually two or three a month and not all of them get closed....

Honestly, I didn't see multiple threads on this. There are multitudes of threads about nurses in USA pushing for "universal healthcare." I haven't seen many from nurses abroad weighing in on their countries healthsystems. Plus, Im sort of new to this site and am very interested in this topic. So, sorry if u all are answering a redundant question.

I feel I have a pretty wide view of healthcare in the USA.....Dr's get rich, administrators get rich, Pharmacutical companies get rich....while the uninsured and underinsured die or do without to afford healthcare and meds. I see it ALL THE TIME!

Unless u have awesome health insurance and don't become too ill to work for that insurance...USA is great! Otherwise, you better have LOTS of money in the bank or qualify for medicaid.

P.S. Mark Perry, I know just as many people bailing out of the USA to go to other countries so they can get the healthcare they need!

I would like to know where the "cracks" or weaknesses are that people "fall through" in other systems. Like in the US it is not uncommon unless you have a very good financial/ family support system for something like cancer to have a catastrophic effect in that if the breadwinner/ healthcare insurance holder becomes too ill to work, healthcare can become inaccessable for the entire family. (I am not counting COBRA: it is just not realistic for a family, even if fortunate enough to be receiving the average unemployment income of $1200/ mo to cover rent/ food/ utilities/ transportation, etc, etc. to be allocating $1000 out of that sum for medical insurance alone!) Do other countries do a better job of providing for this sort of event?