will universal healthcare ( in the usa) cut RN pay?

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I been hearing this debate off and on for a long time about how if Obama gets universal healthcare to go ( if he gets elected of course)though in the US that nursing pay will be cut dramatically. I would think this has to do with the fact that we would all be working for the government and that there will no longer be competition. There are many people in my nursing class that said they will leave nursing if thats the case. I also talked to several doctors that said the same thing about medicine in general. Im just curious if anyone has some good info about this. Thanks

Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.
I haven't seen anyone mention that with socialized medicine that there is usually a waiting list for surgical proceedures that can save lives.

I think you will find that the emergency care and emergency / urgent surgery recieved in the UK and other countries with Universal healthcare is as rapid as in the US.

Also as I have stated many many times before although there are some waiting lists, in general the time waited for elective and non urgent surgery is now down to 3 months in most places in the UK.

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Also as I have stated many many times before although there are some waiting lists, in general the time waited for elective and non urgent surgery is now down to 3 months in most places in the UK.

I experience the same amount of waiting time with Kaiser private insurance. I have to wait 4 months before I can get in for surgery for my Cubital Tunnel Syndrome and it ISN'T elective...

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.
I experience the same amount of waiting time with Kaiser private insurance. I have to wait 4 months before I can get in for surgery for my Cubital Tunnel Syndrome and it ISN'T elective...

poop did I say 3 months, that's too much caffeine for you.

The targets are for set at 6 months from referral to treatment, for the non urgent stuff

Reminder to self, lay off the coffee:D

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Those are the reasons that I am going into nursing. Nurses are empathetic. They devote their time, energy and resources to helping others. That's the job of nurses, not the government. Government involvement only hinders progress...it never promotes it.

The goverment has been a leader in social progress and reform, the human genome project, the internet, social security, medicare, medicaid, GI bill, highways, freeways, WIC, -------- I could go on all day. Goverment is not the answer to all issues but to deny that it has been the leader on many fronts is to deny the facts.

Nurses can not help patients without the help of goverment. We need whistleblower protection, restored rights to organize and form unions, and universal healthcare either by a single payer system or regulated private insurance. The healthcare system is out of control and is focused on profit at the expense of patients and nurses. When you become a nurse and have worked in the profession, you will see that corporate america is not the answer.

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poop did I say 3 months, that's too much caffeine for you.

The targets are for set at 6 months from referral to treatment, for the non urgent stuff

Reminder to self, lay off the coffee:D

Maybe Kaiser considers my problem non-urgent. It may be. I am just annoyed by the constant numbness and according to WebMD taking to much time to fix it can cause nerve damage which is making me nervous.

I pay a LOT for my insurance. I should get immediate care. Otherwise, why am I paying so much for it???

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Specializes in Peds.
Maybe Kaiser considers my problem non-urgent. It may be. I am just annoyed by the constant numbness and according to WebMD taking to much time to fix it can cause nerve damage which is making me nervous.

I pay a LOT for my insurance. I should get immediate care. Otherwise, why am I paying so much for it???

Excellent point.

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Those are the reasons that I am going into nursing. Nurses are empathetic. They devote their time, energy and resources to helping others. That's the job of nurses, not the government. Government involvement only hinders progress...it never promotes it.

The VA is the best health care system in the US.

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Hi, I am reading with interest the comments and concerns regarding universal healthcare in the USA.

In Canada there is always endless discussion around the health care system. I believe that we are very lucky to have a health care system that allows for all to be cared for regardless of personal ability to pay. I will add that the RNs get paid very well (hourly wage about $36) pay into a pension fund and have medical, dental and extended health benefits.

LPNs start at about $25 and personal care aids start at around $18 hour. Because all these health care workers must belong to a union to work in BC they all pay into a pension and have the same benefits as the RNs

You can add about 10% of that to compensate for the premium value of the canadian dollar.

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The VA is the best health care system in the US.

Indeed it is... The VA cleaned up nicely...

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The day MAY come that I need help but I will NEVER need help from the government and I will NEVER need your help. You are not my brother and you are not my keeper.

I sincerely hope that you never have the misfortune of a chronic illness that renders you unable to work. I am your brother in the religious sense and I do feel an obligation to assure you access to good medical care.

I met a veteran a few weeks ago age 45 who was permanently disabled d/t chronic pain as a result of a fall and a car accident. He needed my help and I gladly gave it because it was the right thing to do.

I wouldn't tempt fate by making these kinds of statements. Your good health is something you could lose in a second. Someone will be there to help you pick up the pieces. Would you be there for another person in a similar situation?

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Indeed it is... The VA cleaned up nicely...

The motto is best care anywhere...

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i cannot believe people want the government in charge of healthcare. lets look at how well the government takes care of stuff. #1- social security, #2- the va health care, #3-public schools, #4-indian reservations. yeah, let me sign up for that.

1-off topic.

2 have you ever researched the quality of the va?

3/4-off topic........

over the last decade or two, the vha system has become a worldwide leader in both the adoption and the invention of health-information technology, and it has leveraged its innovations into quantifiable gains in quality of care. as harvard's kennedy school noted when awarding the vha its prestigious innovations in american government prize:

[the] vha's complete adoption of electronic health records and performance measures have resulted in high-quality, low-cost health care with high patient satisfaction. a recent rand study found that vha outperforms all other sectors of american health care across the spectrum of 294 measures of quality in disease prevention and treatment. for six straight years, vha has led private-sector health care in the independent american customer satisfaction index.

indeed, the vha's lead in care quality isn't disputed. a new england journal of medicine study from 2003 compared the vha with fee-for-service medicare on 11 measures of quality. the vha came out "significantly better" on every single one. the annals of internal medicine pitted the vha against an array of managed-care systems to see which offered the best treatment for diabetics. the vha triumphed in all seven of the tested metrics. the national committee for quality assurance, meanwhile, ranks health plans on 17 different care metrics, from hypertension treatment to adherence to evidence-based treatments. as phillip longman, the author of best care anywhere, a book chronicling the vha's remarkable transformation, explains: "winning ncqa's seal of approval is the gold standard in the health-care industry. and who do you suppose is the highest ranking health care system? johns hopkins? mayo clinic? massachusetts general? nope. in every single category, the veterans health care system outperforms the highest-rated non-vha hospitals."

at http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_health_of_nations

obviously not. i am just reading more talking points that have no reflection of reality.

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