EnduringFaith

Hi Mianders, Actually, I have heard of this. I believe what you are referring to is DRGs (diagnostic related groups). I hope I am on the same page. I receive traditional Medicare and yes, I am stranded with lots of medical bills I still can't pay for. But it's better the nothing. If I didn't have it, I would be uninsured right now. Also, I am especially concerned about Medicare reimbursements to providers being continually get cut back. Unfortunately, I think the Medicare program is actually quite good, but it's not able to fulfill its potential because we have too many private entities with their hands in the pie. I think our system as it is though continues to be reactive instead of proactive. As taxpayers we are going to continue, I think, to get beaten to a pulp with bearing the costs of healthcare on our society for illnesses after they've occurred, especially as we deal with more boomers coming of age. Prevention needs to become the mainstay and at some point it's going to happen when we don't expect it. I think the only way we are going to do this is to thoroughly rework our healthcare delivery. I know a lot of folks may complain about the woes in Canada, etc. I myself have heard a lot of good things as well. In my predicament, if I had an opportunity and the resources I would not hesitate for a second to leave the US for healthcare somewhere else. Anything is better than nothing, which is where I am seeing our healthcare going. My own mother just became uninsured herself, and I believe her husband too. This has gotten very personal for me. I think a lot of us still think it can't happen to us--until it does. It becomes a whole new reality then. Thanks for writing and for your feedback; it's nice to hear from you.

i ask you for a moment of your time...and i thank you ahead of time for it. i have twenty cents to offer here as well...not just as a potential colleague but as a patient with lots of experience after already having had 22 surgeries, multitudes of different insurance plans and being uninsured. i am now on disability, receiving medicare, and hoping to recover some hope for my future by trying to be productive again. i am also a public health student with interest in healthcare delivery. to begin, regarding hilary clinton, there are a couple things about her healthcare idea that bother me. first, as one poster mentioned, she wants to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. this is hard to do considering she receives some of the largest contributions of all the candidates from big pharma. secondly, on the surface her plan sounds great; however, it's to my understanding that her way of covering everyone is to mandate we all buy health insurance without addressing how we are supposed to afford it. from what i also understand they tried this in the state of massachusetts and so far it has been a failure. next, regarding "socialized medicine", here in the us we hear about expansion of medicare for all. first, i would like to emphasize that by doing this, we are not engaging in full-fledged socialized medicine. socialized medicine involves the government employing medical providers for their services. now, they do this i believe in the va and the military, but in the private sector medicare still pays for services to private entities that are not employed by the government. secondly, as much as medicare has its issues (part d i think sucks), overall i am very satisfied with it and wouldn't go a day without it. third, when it comes to long wait times as complained about in canada, just think...what if we had 47 million uninsured people back standing in line here in the us? it would be no different; however, i think we waste more money on healthcare here in the us by paying a thousand different middlemen (not an exact number, but feels like this). also, for many of us (me included) we already wait here in the us. medicaid is a prime example. granted it's a government program and most docs won't take it, but the money for medicaid has been getting cut from our budgets for other things. in just one instance, what if we took the money we are paying our middlemen insurance companies and put it back into something like medicaid? it's my belief as a patient that healthcare in this country is based solely on how much you can pay and nothing else. i don't believe i'd be on disability today it i had access to the care i needed in the first place. and, thanks to my ever increasing medical issues and expenditures, i've had to battle with homelessness for over 3 years now because i am bankrupt so badly i may never be able to recover. (i don't stop trying to recover, however). in short, i think i may die because of healthcare, and join the other 18,000 that die each year because if lack of care. i live this nightmare of fearing a lack of access to care and lacking the ability to pay for it everyday, and in the recent past i've been subjected to direct personal attack on me and my reputation, both verbally by a physician's office staff and in writing by a person collecting for a doctor. sadly, paying for care is one thing, but a bigger problem for me is that i can't keep up with endless mail of medical bills. in the meantime, physician offices have started to see and/or treat me as a lowlife despite this. (i am single, and with my healthcare i go it alone because of lack of a strong social network of assistance--family, friends, etc). fourth, in my educational travels, an instructor of mine said something that i've never forgotten--we don't really have a healthcare "system" per se in the us. we have a healthcare conglomeration. to have a system implies order and regulation--here in my opinion we have organized chaos. fifth, also during my education so far i've had to watch michael moore's "sicko" and critique it. though i am not a moore fan and think that he could have done a better job with showing the healthcare systems he did show, he did a great job showing what many of us are going through with dealing with healthcare in the us. the cases he presented are like ones i have either experienced personally or know a lot about. i cried my eyes out, not just because of the cases themselves, but also as a patient i felt his movie gave me vindication--vindication that's long overdue for the suffering that patients have to go through. even though many of you may disagree with mr. moore, i would ask you to see sicko if you haven't already and please consider the thoughts i'm sharing here. as a potential nurse, i also think we need a drastic change. i would like to go into a field with some hope that many of my patients won't die needlessly simply because they didn't have the money to even get basic access to care. even if there was the chance of lesser income, if i had any opportunity for greater job satisfaction as i believe can happen with a change i would gladly reconsider whether i really wanted to quit my profession. granted, there is no perfect panacea for our healthcare woes, but i would gladly help my fellow americans get the care they need, especially on the basic, preventative levels. though changing our way of delivering healthcare is only part of the equation, i think it would be a very big first step. in the meantime, in light of all the heartache i've already seen in healthcare, i am not sure if i could go forward into this profession unless there is a change. though this may sound selfish, this is a feeling that i think may drive many dedicated folks right out of healthcare altogether, especially nursing. thanks again for listening! you are all dear to my heart. nurses work their guts out to help patients every day--thank you! :redpinkhe

i ask you for a moment of your time... i have two cents to offer here as well...not just as a potential colleague but as a patient with lots of experience after already having had 22 surgeries, multitudes of different insurance plans and being uninsured. i am now on disability, receiving medicare, and hoping to recover some hope for my future by trying to be productive again. i am also a public health student with interest in healthcare delivery. to begin, regarding hilary clinton, there are a couple things about her healthcare idea that bother me. first, as one poster mentioned, she wants to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. this is hard to do considering she receives some of the largest contributions of all the candidates from big pharma. secondly, on the surface her plan sounds great; however, it's to my understanding that her way of covering everyone is to mandate we all buy health insurance without addressing how we are supposed to afford it. from what i also understand they tried this in the state of massachusetts and so far it has been a failure. next, regarding "socialized medicine", here in the us we hear about expansion of medicare for all. first, i would like to emphasize that by doing this, we are not engaging in full-fledged socialized medicine. socialized medicine involves the government employing medical providers for their services. now, they do this i believe in the va and the military, but in the private sector medicare still pays for services to private entities that are not employed by the government. secondly, as much as medicare has its issues, overall i am very satisfied with it and wouldn't go a day without it. third, when it comes to long wait times as complained about in canada, just think...what if we had 47 million uninsured people back standing in line here in the us? it would be no different; however, i think we waste more money on healthcare here in the us by paying a thousand different middlemen (not an exact number, but feels like this). also, for many of us (me included) we already wait here in the us. medicaid is a prime example. granted it's a government program and most docs won't take it, but the money for medicaid has been getting cut from our budgets for other things. what if we took the money we are paying our middlemen insurance companies and put it back into something like medicaid? it's my belief as a patient that healthcare in this country is based solely on how much you can pay and nothing else. i don't believe i'd be on disability today it i had access to the care i needed in the first place. and, thanks to my ever increasing medical issues and expenditures, i've had to battle with homelessness for over 3 years now because i am bankrupt so badly i may never be able to recover. (i don't stop trying to recover, however). in short, i think i may die because of healthcare, and join the other 18,000 that die each year because if lack of care. i live this nightmare of fearing a lack of access to care and lacking the ability to pay for it everyday, and in the recent past i've been subjected to direct personal attack on me and my reputation, both verbally by a physician's office staff and in writing by person collecting for a doctor. sadly, paying for care is one thing, but a bigger problem for me is that i can't keep up with endless mail of medical bills. in the meantime, physician offices have started to treat me like a lowlife despite this. (i am single, and with my healthcare i go it alone because of lack of a strong social network of assistance--family, friends, etc). fourth, in my educational travels, an instructor of mine said something that i've never forgotten--we don't really have a healthcare "system" per se in the us. we have a healthcare conglomeration. to have a system implies order and regulation--here in my opinion we have organized chaos. fifth, also during my education so far i've had to watch michael moore's "sicko" and critique it. though i am not a moore fan and think that he could have done a better job with showing the healthcare systems he did show, he did a great job showing what many of us are going through with dealing with healthcare in the us. the cases he presented are like ones i have either experienced personally or know a lot about. i cried my eyes out, not just because of the cases themselves, but also as a patient i felt his movie gave me vindication--which is long overdue for the suffering that patients have to go through. even though many of you may disagree with mr. moore, i would ask you to see sicko if you haven't already and please consider the thoughts i'm sharing here. as a potential nurse, i also think we need a drastic change. i would like to go into a field with some hope that many of my patients won't die needlessly simply because they didn't have the money to even get basic access to care. even if there was the chance of lesser income, if i had any opportunity for greater job satisfaction as i believe can happen with a change i would gladly reconsider whether i really wanted to quit my profession. granted, there is no perfect panacea for our healthcare woes, but i would gladly help my fellow americans get the care they need, especially on the basic, preventative levels. in the meantime, in light of all the heartache i've already seen in healthcare, i am not sure if i could go forward into this profession unless there is a change. though this may sound selfish, this is a feeling that i think may drive many dedicated folks right out of healthcare altogether, especially nursing. thanks for listening! you are all dear to my heart. nurses work their guts out to help patients every day.

Hello everyone, I apologized ahead of time if you've been inundated with questions like this and what I am about to share. I have been accepted to a BSN nursing program set to begin this fall. I have always wanted a medical career since I was young, either a doctor or nurse. Over the years the desire to do something in this field has continued to call me, but I have not responded to that calling. The main reason for not responding is due my own health and experiences dealing with the healthcare system. Since I was born, I've now had about 22 surgeries, multiple insurance companies, gone without insurance, and just about anything else you can imagine. Over the years my health has continued to become more of a struggle. I am concerned about my pursuit of nursing in many ways. First of all, I have sought countless resources (books, articles, others in the profession) about the nursing profession and have tried to get fair feedback about it. For the most part, however, the overwhelming feeling I've received overall from these sources is that I will have to endure an extremely grueling education only to find myself in a lot of misery. I've heard it's a very physically demanding job (can I tolerate that? not sure. I have some physical limitations, like limited use of a shoulder and little stamina). I've heard about nurses badmouthing other nurses. I've heard about the difficulties dealing with doctors. The Chair of the nursing school I am accepted to has also described a tightening job market. As it is, the meeting I attended for the nursing program where the Chair was speaking felt just plain depressing. The negatives I've heard from so many are endless. That's very discouraging. I've also seen so much of the health care system as a patient that I thought I could be a good "in their shoes" person for any patients I care for, but in reality I've learned to really despise the way healthcare is delivered in this country. When it comes to doctors, I have taken so much garbage from them I am not sure if I can handle another moment more of it as a nurse. And the thought of being so overwhelmed by those crazy nurse-patient ratios already makes it hard for me to sleep at night. I cannot stand those Johnson & Johnson commercials about nursing. I think they falsely portray what really goes on in nursing; I find them downright offensive. But I also don't want to destroy a potentially good career. I am sorry if all of you keep hearing the same story again and again about the negatives of nursing. I am really distraught about my pursuit. I don't want to commit the time, expense and risk to my personal health for a pursuit that involves an insanely difficult education only to find myself facing potential burnout in a short time and having to make the heart-breaking decision to get out of the profession. I do appreciate the stories I've seen, however, from nurses who love their work and for this reason and others I am quite despondent over the potential loss of a great career for me if I choose not the pursue it. I am just plain torn. :innerconf Would any of you like to share your thoughts here? Your feedback is welcome and greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello, everyone and thank you for reading this post. I am having a dilemma. I was accepted to a BSN nursing program beginning in Spring 2007. In the meantime, I am having second thoughts about pursuing it. Besides the frequent interactions I've had with nurses in the profession stressing their desires to get out, I also don't have a particular liking for conventional medicine, even though oddly, and paradoxically, I've been drawn to it since childhood like a lifelong calling. I have studied many subjects over the years to support a career in this field (ie, taking the science classes, etc) and between those classes and classes like med term and A&P, these subjects have come natural to me and I don't want to waste these abilities. I've also been accepted to nursing school several times over, but unable to attend at those times. However, my aversion for conventional medicine runs very deep and this comes from personal experience: not only as a worker in the medical field (in other capacities) but as a patient also--I am getting ready for my 22nd procedure. I have seen the mistakes, the red tape, the garbage and I am sick of it. I've had the physical discomforts, such as pain, and don't know if I can handle stabbing people. For the most part, I find the conventional medical paradigm very depressing; I see much hopelessness in it. Andrew Weil MD himself touched on this by coining the term "medical pessimism;" he was referring to statements like "there's nothing we can do for you" or "you have one week to live" etc. I believe many patients suffer and die needlessly being told things like this. Yes, the likely outcome is a dose of reality, but placebo effects are real too. On the flipside, I know that there can be hope in medicine and I would like to bring more of it into the profession. I have considered alternative medicine. I think regular medicine focuses too much on the drugs and surgery approach and not enough of the mental/emotional approach. Has anyone here pursued alternative medicine? I don't see posts on this subject (could I be missing them?) :selfbonk: And to those of you who have been in the profession for a while, how do you hold yourselves together? Your thoughts are appreciated...I am getting ready to withdraw my acceptance to the program.

missmolly, so sorry to hear about your adventure! i hope you feel better soon. i am not yet a nurse (trained as an emt-basic some time ago), but a very experienced patient. i know about pain down there..i myself had bilateral endometriomas the size of tennis balls and my severe endo completely destroyed one half of my reproductive system and moderately damaged the other side. i feel for you, especially as you have those other things too. trying to get treatment for just my endo was a nightmare for two long years, which included a visit to an er myself for the pain. the way i was repeatedly treated during that time was pathetic. i had a very bad experience after a car accident too. while at a stoplight i was rear-ended very hard and pushed through the intersection. i immediately had felt something was very wrong with my neck. then my treatment nightmare started. first, the paramedics i had called for had asked me if i'd be willing to let my family take me to the er (huh? yeah, you read this correctly) i said no and made them take me anyway on a backboard. i got there only to find my neck quickly xrayed and i taken off the board. however by this time i was having chest and back pain (seatbelt). thankfully the nurse i had was very concerned and kept asking the doctor for back & chest xrays. the dictator, excuse me, doctor refused. i was given a neck warmer (soft collar), a prescription for a painkiller and was discharged (even though with the swelling in my neck i felt like i was half choking). about 1.5 years later it was discovered that i had two dislocations of my ribs at the thoracic vertebrae. i will never forget, however, probably the worst experience i ever had in an er. fresh out of emt school, i landed a job as an er tech. i was horrified to learn after i was hired that i was going to be trained to do urinary catheterization, either by foley, or the temp and quick way for a sample to send to the lab for drug testing. they sent me into a patient room, initially alone, to cath an uncooperative male for drug testing (fortunately somewhat restrained)-- to learn on and he knew it. i realize that to some this may seem funny, i was horrified by it, especially for being only an emt-basic fresh out of school. i quit. not only for the questionable level of responsibility, but also that i felt that i was not adequately protected from harm (he could still cuss, shout, spit, bite. i was not asked to put on any protection like a shield, mask, etc). that's okay, only a few years before this, when i visited this same er with a head injury from a car accident, they took x-rays of my neck only and discharged me all the while giving me the name of a gastroenterologist to follow up with whom when i called, was found to be out of the country for some time. i have all but given up on ers. as for you, you have been in terrible pain; anyone would be emotional. but also as a nurse, you know many things that the average patient would not pick up on (and imagine, if you can see how bad the treatment is, with your knowledge, what it's probably like for unsuspecting patients? yikes!) i am also not familiar with dealing with warm hospitals. usually they are pretty chilly, especially in your birthday suit. i wonder, was this er literally hell? good for you for leaving! nobody should have to put up with that. i personally would have walked out either without signing the ama, or if i signed it made sure it was known on the same page as my signature why i was leaving. i hope you feel better soon!

I don't get it either..there are so many nurses here, and if our "shortage" needs to be addressed so badly, why are we going to Canada?

:redlight: I am not sure if this one has made the site yet, but popular in EMS: Raisin Shuffle: The relocation of old farts between departments or hospitals/nursing homes, often for non-emergent reasons. :chuckle

Hello again, No, I don't have benefits through my employer. I don't work enough hours, and the employer doesn't usually provide enough hours to even get and keep benefits. I am not yet in nursing, but in another area of work. I believe I am like many subjected to corporate greed. Regarding the indigent, it's becoming ever more apparent to me that a person may be, for lack of a better description, able to access care if they live wealthy or wipe themselves out to indigency. In the middle? Forget it.

hello zacarias! thanks for responding. lol about the ethics class! i took an ethics class already and the instructor was always anticipating my papers--he just loved them. i think ethics is fun. as for closures, riots, etc....you sound a lot like me. i believe it's going get to the point that patients, and consumers in general, are going to fight back and mightily. the potential energy is building. the way we are going, it seems like the only thing left is a major healthcare crash. i don't think you're being dramatic at all. as a patient in the working poor class, i have had great difficulty getting care and i have stopped utilizing the healthcare system out of fear of the bills. i don't believe i am alone. in addition, i have actually become fearful of even utilizing my health insurance because of frequently hearing doctors in particular repeatedly complaining about their reimbursements. many people i think are dreadful of the potential debt from medical bills, they do wait until it becomes a true emergency situation. i have been there, done that numerous times. it sounds crazy, but i have heard of possibly boycotting the system altogether.i would not be surprised if this were to happen. it could be done to retaliate against the pharma companies, the insurance companies, high medical care costs. in other words, it seems to some that the only way to get the point across is to stop being their customers. and by the looks of everything going on with our budget issues, this may happen involuntarily.

Hi Delight, Thank you for your response and insight into the issue. I have been especially curious as I am also part of the working poor. Access to care has been a nightmare for me. For example, I can't get access to dental care where I am. No insurance and the health dept says they cannot help me. (I have found out recently about other people complaining about the dept.) I am glad to hear that help is out there for the indigent. Around here where I live, the best you can usually do is get passed around the system. Thanks again, Enduringfaith

Hello, I am new to this site today and I am trying to ask others out there in the Nursing profession a burning question. I am trying to research the issue, but cannot seem to find information to answer my question. We hear of and know of the current nursing shortage. (Or as I have read on this site, is there a true shortage?) It seems that employment security is strong with this profession, especially doing the bedside work. I personally have a great desire to bring a lot of committment and devotion to nursing and I have been very fortunate to be able to get accepted into nursing school in the past (I couldn't attend though due to personal obligations and I wish to consider my options now very carefully). The question I have involves our healthcare system. As we have learned recently, nearly half of bankruptcies are because of medical bills. 45 million people in this country lack health insurance and the number continues to increase. I as a patient have experienced first hand what it feels like to be uninsured--I have been bankrupt and I don't often get the care I need. Which leads me to my question... Isn't it logical that with more and more people unable to afford healthcare, and many hospitals having to close units or close down entirely, that there could be potentially enormous layoffs of nurses if it's not already happening? Has anyone seen this first hand? I ask because I have heard of nurses getting laid off in the past. At minimum I wonder if our deteriorating healthcare system would offset a nursing demand(?) I have much enthusiasm I would like to bring to the nursing profession, but I am not sure if I can endure the heartaches of our healthcare system. I would love to hear what others out there think about this. Thank You!

Hello, I am trying to ask others out there in the Nursing profession a burning question. I am trying to research the issue, but cannot seem to find information to answer my question. We hear of and know of the current nursing shortage. (Or as I have read on this site, is there a true shortage?) It seems that employment security is strong with this profession, especially doing the bedside work. I personally have a great desire to bring a lot of committment and devotion to nursing and I have been very fortunate to be able to get accepted into nursing schools in the past (I couldn't attend though due to personal obligations and I wish to consider my options now very carefully). The question I have involves our healthcare system. As we have learned recently, nearly half of bankruptcies are because of medical bills. 45 million people in this country lack health insurance and the number continues to increase. I as a patient have experienced first hand what it feels like to be uninsured--I have been bankrupt and I don't get the care I need. Which leads me to my question... Isn't it logical that with more and more people unable to afford healthcare, and many hospitals having to close units or close down entirely that there could be potential layoffs of nurses if it's not already happening? Has anyone seen this first hand? I have much enthusiasm I would like to bring to the nursing profession, but I am not sure if I can stand the heartaches of our healthcare system. Responses are greatly appreciated! Thank You!