I am wondering if there are any nurses out there who either work in a country with socialized medicine or nurses here in the US who are savy in the area of socialized medicine. I have to wonder just exactly how I personally would be effected if Obama got through a plan for socialized medicine. Personally yes I realize I would have the coverage to see my doc, get my scripts, etc. But how would it effect me as a nurse? All of us nurses? How do nurses get paid? Would they all work for the government then? Would that make out pay better, worse or would we see little change?
I got thinking about this after I watched the movie SICKO over the weekend. Not sure if anyone has seen it.....take a couple hours and watch it. Its very interesting. Makes me want to move to France!!! LOL
Anyways after watching it I started wondering what kind of pay the nurses get in this kind of system compared with how we do things now.
I was hoping there would be some people who are more knowledgeable about this stuff then me.
I'm a nurse here in the USA. This June, I have the opportunity to do nursing in Ireland. I'm jumping at it. I'm anxious to see firsthand how their nationalized healthcare differs from our healthcare system here in the US.
Specializes in Psych, ER, Resp/Med, LTC, Education.
OP here....WOW this thread has gone on for a lot longer then I expected when I first posted my questions.......a large number of posts were so political and detailed I honestly got lost! lol But thanks for all the posts.......I really was just wondering how nurses pay really is effected by these systems.....
Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
And when I buy goods in Canada, I pay the prices in Canadian dollars. I just returned from a holiday in the US and I paid the same dollar price in US dollars for restaurant meals as I would have in Canada in Canadian dollars... and the exchange rate was actually 32% more, but the meals were not 32% better for it. Books and magazines are selling for the same price on either side of the border, the Bandaids I bought in the CVS pharmacy while I was away are about $0.90 cheaper in Canada in Canadian dollars for the identical packaging, many of the grocery items I buy are priced similarly. That argument also holds no water and it really doesn't contribute anything to the discussion. I make enough money to live comfortably, travel, indulge my hobbies and save for the future and that's what the original focus of this thread was.
I didn't make an argument.
I made a two-sentence comment about the exchange rate...which is accurate and based on referenceable material.
Seems to be far more accurate than a bunch of anecdotal examples.
And this discussion included an implied comparison; it seems the intellectually honest thing to do is to point out the exchange rate and the ACTUAL cost disparity.
Nope. Look at the date on the link you included here. It's December 2007. Lots has changed in the 15 months since then. Since I actually buy magazines in Canada, I might actually know how much I'm paying for them. The second link you included is also more than year old. Of course prices in Canada are higher for items produced in the US and imported. When the dollar was near par for that period of time, all our prices for US-manufactured imported goods were left at the level they were when the Canadian dollar was trading at $0.65. There has been a fair bit of movement on that front in the 9 months since that second article was written. But again, the exchange rate has nothing to do whatever with the pay nurses receive in Canada in the single payer system we have. We are paid well and receive decent benefits. Having a single payer health system has not reduced nurses' pay to nickels and dimes. Actually when you consider that about 1/3 of the money spent in the US for health care goes for administration costs due to the plethora of different insurance carriers, the possibility exists that nurses' pay could actually increase if you cut out that line item in the budget. Let's try to stay on topic, please.
Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
So in 15 months, the US and Canada has somehow magically achieved complete price parity?
Here is one from a Canadian newspaper from only nine months ago. Is that soon enough? Can you produce something that says the price gap has been taken to Zero in the past nine months?
It's not my opinion or anecdotal samples I'm sharing; this article indicates an average 18-24% price gap, and the expert says,
"this may be as good as it gets for Canadian shoppers,"
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
Nope. Look at the date on the link you included here. It's December 2007. Lots has changed in the 15 months since then. Since I actually buy magazines in Canada, I might actually know how much I'm paying for them. The second link you included is also more than year old. Of course prices in Canada are higher for items produced in the US and imported. When the dollar was near par for that period of time, all our prices for US-manufactured imported goods were left at the level they were when the Canadian dollar was trading at $0.65. There has been a fair bit of movement on that front in the 9 months since that second article was written. But again, the exchange rate has nothing to do whatever with the pay nurses receive in Canada in the single payer system we have. We are paid well and receive decent benefits. Having a single payer health system has not reduced nurses' pay to nickels and dimes. Actually when you consider that about 1/3 of the money spent in the US for health care goes for administration costs due to the plethora of different insurance carriers, the possibility exists that nurses' pay could actually increase if you cut out that line item in the budget. Let's try to stay on topic, please.
I'm trusting the actual experience of my fellow nurse.
Actual experience of an allnurses member whose posts over the years show intelligence, kindness, and hosnestly.
Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
I shared a completely objective post with factual data about the exchange rate in response to someone making an vague comparison of wages.
Somehow anecdotal info trumps facts?
Don't be surprised if I find the implication offensive that the facts I shared are invalid just because I have shorter tenure, but that keeps in line with the nursing tradition of 'eating our young.'
Are you saying my posts are stupid, unkind, and dishonest?
OP here....WOW this thread has gone on for a lot longer then I expected when I first posted my questions.......a large number of posts were so political and detailed I honestly got lost! lol But thanks for all the posts.......I really was just wondering how nurses pay really is effected by these systems.....
Not sure if this has already been posted but is relevant to this thread. In the UK there is national pay rates for nurses and midwives. This means that a nurse in Cornwall will earn the same as a nurse in Wales for doing the same job there are regional variations on what some jobs are banded but if you are a band 5 you will earn the same as any other band 5 in the country.
Band 7 Nurses (ward managers, senior nurse practitioners)
29,091
30,041
31,109
32,653
33,603
34,672
35,859
37,106
38,352
You also have band 8 and 9 for senior nurses and some specialist nurses.
A newly qualified will start on a band 5, which starts at £20,000 per year. (using an online converter this is $28570 )
We get annual pay increases on the scale that you are working at, so a band 5 after 9 years will earn £26,123 ($37,319)
We get 27 leave days every year until you have worked for 5 years this then increases to 30, then after 10 years 33 days. On top of this you also get 8 bank holidays a year.
In case of illnes NHS employees also get 6 month full sick pay, 6 months half sick pay.
Now it is difficult to compare because cost of living, taxation and our national insurance would need to be taken into account.
I work as a senior nurse, have been qualified for 20 years and I now earn £39,896 ($57,021)
I get 41 days leave a year (including bank holidays)
I find it odd that very little consideration is given to the immorality of a private healthcare system. After everything that has happened in the last few years, too Americans still wrongly believe they live in a morally superior democracy. America is no more a democracy than China or Cuba.
We get 27 leave days every year until you have worked for 5 years this then increases to 30, then after 10 years 33 days. On top of this you also get 8 bank holidays a year.
In case of illnes NHS employees also get 6 month full sick pay, 6 months half sick pay.
Now it is difficult to compare because cost of living, taxation and our national insurance would need to be taken into account.
I work as a senior nurse, have been qualified for 20 years and I now earn £39,896 ($57,021)
I get 41 days leave a year (including bank holidays)
Sharrie are you band *?
Also Nurse working shifts gets enhancments (differnitals) on nights from 8pm-7.30am, saturdays time 1/3, sundays time 2/3s, and for having less than 11hours off between shitfs as well and bank holidays. can really top up a pay packet.
Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
I find it odd that very little consideration is given to the immorality of a private healthcare system. After everything that has happened in the last few years, too Americans still wrongly believe they live in a morally superior democracy. America is no more a democracy than China or Cuba.
The very fact that you can post here, and can post criticisms of America, is a perfect example of how America is nothing like Cuba or China.
If you notice, there doesn't seem to be anyone from Cuba or China posting here, let alone posting criticisms about their own gov't. You can be sure that we have unbridled democracy and freedoms compared to Cuba, which has imprisoned more journalists than any other country, or China, which restricts internet access nationwide.
madwife2002, BSN, RN
26 Articles; 4,777 Posts
GOOD LUCK a fantastic opportunity of a lifetime