Socialized Medicine....WHAT IF?

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Socialized Medicine...what will happen if Obama changes the US health care system like he says he will and turns it into socialized medicine or something similar? What will the ramifications be for us nurses?

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Specializes in Cardiac.

I'm all for it.

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Nurses I work with, who have worked in foreign countries, say it is not a good thing.

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Nurses I've worked with (mostly from Canada) say it is a very good thing. It has its' problems, but overall, they are grateful for their system.

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The biggest concern I have is that there may become a shortage of full time nursing jobs. My wife and several of her friends came her to work because finding a full time job in a hospital is difficult. They hire mostly part time due to the employment taxes. My wife has been an R.N. 18yrs and several of her friends she graduated with are still back in Canada and only working part time, 2-3 jobs. I don't know if it is due to the area they live in (Nova Scotia and Ontario) but if this happened here most people would find they didn't pay enough income taxes and would have to pay in April. Also think of other benefits you my lose, 401k, 403b and pension plans are usually limited to full time employees. Nevermind what could happen to the quality of medical and nursing care.

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

i heard wages wont be as high ....

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So with socialized medicine will nurse get paid more or are they totally ripped off. I tend to believe the later but I don't know if that is correct. can ya help me>>>>>

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I do not think we will have a totally socialized system. I think we will have a hybrid of socialized and private.

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You are very wise to be concerned. After all, we are nurses first and foremost. We should not be concerned about family and friends least of all our fellow man.

Citizens in the entire industrialized world are en mass demanding that they are able to have a health care system just like that of the USA. They are concerned that they do not have the opportunity to lose everything that they have worked for due to a single catastrophic illness or injury. They long for the feeling of being unable to obtain health care insurance for themselves or their families should they have a pre-existing condition. They are concerned that drug, insurance and hospital revenues are just not high enough and they feel the need to do more----much more.

We MUST stop universal healthcare in its tracks. Now!!!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in CVICU.

I'm no expert on the subject, but with Medicare reimbursement the way it is currently, an entirely socialized medicine system seems that a nursing shortage would not be the only problem, but a worsening physician shortage as well. How many young people who are trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives would opt for 10-12+ years of school for a job that pays in the lower 100,000's when there are plenty of other routes to achieve the same. Certainly money is nowhere near the only reason one would choose a career but it plays a significant role. With that logic, advanced practice nurses would probably take a hit too, which (see username) is definitely a concern of mine. Hopefully Obama's "hybrid" plan will avoid these consequences.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

I suppose your take would depend on whether you work to help others or work for the money.

Perhaps we should think of the millions without health care vs "lower wages."

To all those people who think socialized medicine does not work, why not do some research instead of relying on the MEDIA to tell you it doesn't work. Has anyone not learned from all these years that the media is paid off?!

The problem today is no one cares for their fellow man (or woman), its all about ME ME ME today.

Another thing, last time I checked our mail system is socialized (USPS), would you rather pay more for postage? Of course there are alternatives, and there always will be.

BTW, here is a ranking from WHO regarding health care systems worldwide... guess what, USA is 37..

1 France

2 Italy

3 San Marino

4 Andorra

5 Malta

6 Singapore

7 Spain

8 Oman

9 Austria

10 Japan

11 Norway

12 Portugal

13 Monaco

14 Greece

15 Iceland

16 Luxembourg

17 Netherlands

18 United Kingdom

19 Ireland

20 Switzerland

21 Belgium

22 Colombia

23 Sweden

24 Cyprus

25 Germany

26 Saudi Arabia

27 United Arab Emirates

28 Israel

29 Morocco

30 Canada

31 Finland

32 Australia

33 Chile

34 Denmark

35 Dominica

36 Costa Rica

37 United States of America

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Specializes in thoracic, cardiology, ICU.

It won't happen. He doesn't want to socialize healthcare as we know it but instead set up a national program similar to medicare for people who can't get health insurance through their employers. basically the idea is that if more people are insured, it's less burdensome because its more reimbursement going to hospitals and facilities. he also wants to focus on prevention to save money. you can look it up online at different non partisan web sites.

It's not going to be anything like the NHS in england or anything, but it'll hopefully make insurance more affordable for a lot of people.

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