National Health Service for the US. What’s in It for Nurses?
Nurses are in a unique profession. They care for the patient and act as his advocate yet they are seldom employed directly by the patient. A national health service will be good for nurses because they will be able to continue in this unique role. They will be able to serve for betterment of society. In the US, in the present system nurses are mainly employed to look after the insured thereby shoring up the profit margins of insurance companies and pharmaceutical firms. The author of has worked in Canada, Australia, UK and the US and offers his insights into probable changes which may come with the creation of a National Health Service.
I was born in India. I grew up in Malaysia where I completed my primary and secondary school education . I did my diploma in nursing at the Group School of Nursing for South Ayrshire located on Bellevue Road in the beautiful and wintery City of Ayr, Ayrshire. Then I moved to London, England to do my Intensive Care Course and my Oncology Nursing Certificate. I did these at the Lewisham District General Hospital and at the Royal Marsden Hospital respectively. At that time I did not feel that I had acquired sufficient knowledge about health and life in general so I went back to Scotland, Stirling University to be precise, to do my bachelor of Science Degree. This gave me a lot of satisfaction because I felt I learned a lot. However, it was also the driving force for me to do my Master’s Degree. I did this at Nottingham University and obtained an insight into the running of businesses and in particular Health Services.
Though I have a Master’s Degree in Business Administration I am above all an ordinary human being with very ordinary tastes and desires. My thinking and writing are inspired by Mr. Alister Kerr who was instrumental in motivating me to study hard and he always had a Scottish wink and a good word for me. When he noted that I was bored he invited me to attend his special lectures for third year student nurses who were preparing for their final examination. This gave a superior knowldege base when I was in my first year. All this happened in a National Health Care Service.
Myth: That another layer of beurecracy will be created. Reality: Many layers of beuracracy will disappear.
Many nurses who have not worked in a National Health System will be thinking that it will be the creation of another layer of burecracy. Yes, it is another layer of burecracy. I will be lying to you if I said that the system will be tailored to suite each and every patient at the national level. Individual tailoring and adjustments will be made by the bedside nurses not by the Administrators. So we as nurses will have professional responsibility and accountability to our managers etc. This will not change. What will change is that if we are not satisfied with our immediate superiors we will be able to take the issue all the way to Federal Politicians as opposed to the courts. However, the courts will also be available to resolve conflict issues.
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