This is such a quiet thread. Come on guys, there must be some interesting things that we have here in the Canadian Nursing profession. What makes Canadian Nurses different than other nurses, what's unique to Canadian nurses, what issues do they have? There must be something you guys can tell me about Nursing in Canada. Comments from all aspects of the Nursing profession are welcome.

Thanks

They also need to tackle

Health Care fraud and abuse;

Eliminate expensive medically unnecessary procedures from OHIP coverages LIKE sex change operations;

Streamline the system;

increase the extended advance class for nurses....

and finally do something about the disgraceful amounts of waste in hospitals.

Zhakrin:devil:

My place of experience is only as a unionized worker who has been involved in the Canadian healthcare system for the past thirty years. I have no frame of reference as to what privatization would be like, only what I read on this bulletin board etc.

I do wonder if the huge multinationals are not waiting in the wings(whatever that means) to step in as our system erodes further and further.As hospitals across Canada close, is it feasible that thay are being bought, and going to become private?

I have friends who have already jumped the long waiting lists and paid the moneyand have had surgery done within a matter of a week(orthopedic) and that is in Vancouver.

Of course the word privatization is a swear word to unions,they would lose all the power, control and union dues that we pay.Do hospitals inthe usa that are private have unions?, I don't know,Does the system work in the u.s., I don't know.

I see a huge amount of waste in the place that I work . WE have no sense of the cost of anything, so using, supplies to excess is no big deal, I was astounded a few weeks back to find out that the paper isolation gowns we had used in a month came to 2000.00! no idea, anyway I'm starting to ramble and covering too many issues at once....

Next time....

sj

YES Zhakrin! I don't think we're in the situation we're in because a public health care system is unfeasible, I think it's that the gov't doesn't want to do what is necessary to make it feasible.

Snickers, some private hospitals have unions, some don't. I don't consider privatisation a swear word because I am worried about the union, I consider it a swear word because I am concerned about my patients. I saw people in the US, (even with insurance!) be denied the care they needed. I was one of them. I know others who have been denied tests, or can't even choose their doctor because of their HMO. You've heard the joke: What's the difference betweent terrorists and HMOs?...You can negotiate with terrorists. Also, privatisation doesn't really save money. I think it is feistynurse who gave me a link with stats, but our health care system is actually more efficient when looking at things like percentage of money spent on administration and other qualities. I don't see any benefits to privatising.