I have been an ER nurse for exactly one week....

robbnp22 · Aug 10, 2011

As an FNP student in primarily immigrant/medicaid populus, I share your feelings when I treat person after person on Medicaid that I helped pay for while I volunteer my time as well.....hard to remember why we were chosen sometimes...

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

it is only going to get worse unless we reform the healthcare rules and tort laws. I can not count how many times parents on public assistance would bring there kids to the ED for a minor aliment that they had for a week or two, spend $10 in the junk mechines, both have name brand cigerettes, cell phones. When their kid is D/C'd they state they dont have any money for ibuprofen and need a scrip. When asked why they didnt call there PCP, they stated they didnt want to wait at the office.

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

1) Only about 15% of the federal budget goes to Medicare and Medicaid combined.

2) Tax write offs for unreimbursed care, short staffing, relying heavily on part time and per diem employees (cheaper/no insurance premiums/retirement benefits), etc. Underpaying a certain percentage of staff, even if the staff members catch the "mistake" and the money ends up getting paid out, the corporation still makes interest on that money in the interim. Purchasing cheap supplies, cutting staff in non-nursing departments, and on and on.

I'd like to add a:

3) I don't make a habit of looking at my patients' insurance information. The socioeconomic status of my patients really has little, if any, bearing on how I provide care.

4) This is how the "Haves" keep what they've got; by pitting the "Have Nots" against one another. Divide and conquer. It works.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

15% of THE federal government's budget is quite a lot of money. I could certainly think of better uses for it.

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

Keep in mind, that's Medicare AND Medicaid combined. Personally, I don't think we do enough for our elderly. It's shameful.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

Keep in mind, that's Medicare AND Medicaid combined. Personally, I don't think we do enough for our elderly. It's shameful.

Where would you sacrafice though?

My biggest pet peeve is foreign aid funding. I hate that.

tishluvnc · Aug 10, 2011

Being a sociology major and a future nurse, I study all the inequalities in the U.S. when it comes to the population your talking about. As a nurse, I feel these inequalities should be talked about and understood. Unfortunatly, this goes way beyond the medicaide recipient that brings her child to the ER with a common cold.

The U.S spends less money and time on those who are in need than those who can afford to own private jets. Many of you have made it to become nurses and make a decent salary, thats great for you and yours. However, we must not forget that along with inequalities comes behavioral and health problems like adictions and poverty.

I feel if you have made it to the status of being a nuse, like the other post stated the person status or how they paid should not be a concern. I heard a saying " when people on wealfare get money it's a hand out", but when a wealthy person ask for money i'ts a bail out". Last time I checked those populations your talking about get minimal help and never get bailed out of anything. I guess being a sociology/social wealfare minor help me understand the life of not only those who have money, but also those who don't.

DarkBluePhoenix · Aug 10, 2011

Where would you sacrafice though?
My biggest pet peeve is foreign aid funding. I hate that.

Yes, I swear this county takes care of immigrants better than its own people sometimes...

robbnp22 · Aug 10, 2011

BeachBedHead (great name btw)...

yeah, I dont think its just me when it feels like the bad guys always win or get off easy, legal tax paying citizens are the last if ever to get anything from the government except an open hand and more hassles and whatever seems to make sense for OUR society, the exact opposite gets done.....no?

....spent

EmergencyNrse · Aug 10, 2011

We met with the bean-counters once during a budget discussion. They revealed that a full 34% of our emergency room patients do not pay. That's not the Medicaid/Medicare population. We see money from the government.

What business entity is expected to lose 34% and remain viable?

NeoPediRN · Aug 10, 2011

Exactly, EmergencyNrse. It matters how your patients pay, IF they pay, when your small community hospital has already made cutbacks to stay open and you're at the bottom of the seniority list. You care about your hospital getting reimbursed when serving an extremely urban, undereducated, underserved, low socioeconomic status population when it means your hospital struggles to keep its doors open and the same frequent fliers who choose not to choose a PCP keep showing up for bogus complaints despite exhaustive efforts of the staff to educate them on appropriate use of the ER. I care how my hospital gets paid and so should you, because eventually you could be facing the same situation if you're not already.