7 comments

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  taywray

  1 year ago

  I nominate Steve Kagan to take charge of Health Care reform in the House. He's obviously very principled and committed to the issue:
  
  "One of the first things U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen (D
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  annie

  1 year ago

  The almost 3 million registered nurses provide about 95% of all reimbursed health care services (given the nature of the majority of nursing care which is a 24/7 endeavor versus the episodic appointment based care provided by physicians, therapists and other licensed providers). Yet nurses are not represented at all in any healthcare reportage, they don't have a seat at the policy table, nor are nursing experts and nursing research cited when addressing health system reform and patient quality.
  
  Until this huge missing component is included and addressed throughout all of healthcare system design, delivery and reimbursement issues and policy, a fundamental change will not occur with enough breadth and depth to change the outcome.
  
  I blog about professional nursing, patient advocacy/safety and healthcare at Universalhealth and at Home of the Brave. I'll be happy to serve as a resource for nursing issues and to provide contacts to expert nurses and nursing researchers across clinical specialties.
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  mlillis

  1 year ago

  Annie: Point well taken. While health information technology, comparative effectiveness, chronic disease management and preventive care tend to monopolize the health reform debate, nurses will play a central role in any solution and shouldn't be overlooked. The good news is that experts seem to recognize this. In testimony Tuesday, both Thompson and Shalala were quick to point out the importance of nursing, and both called for improvements in training and education programs. (Shalala pushed loan forgiveness, for example, while Thompson promoted greater incentives for nurses to get PhDs so they can turn around and teach new folks.) Whether these items will be prioritized above the others could be an issue, but they do seem to have an audience among policymakers.
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  annie

  1 year ago

  Except that salaries for nursing faculty run BELOW what novice two-year associate degree graduate nurses earn in their first clinical jobs! Prospective faculty can expect to earn between 1/3 and 1/2 less than their counterparts employed in service settings.
  
  BTW - nurses are educated and are not trained. Training apprentice-like programs went out in the 1950s.
  
  Shalala is probably one of the most informed influentials about nursing - as she exhibited during her time on the Dole/Shalala commission which investigated the military healthcare system failures uncovered by the Priest/Hull reportage at Walter Reed. But even then, the crux of the problem wasn't ever reported: the failure was that inpatient and intensive rehabilitation NURSING is not an offered service by the military healthcare system. The affected patients had been held by the military instead of being medically discharged and transferred to VA or civilian inpatient rehab settings. It was the absence of NURSING and nursing case management of patients was - and still is - at the root of the problem.
  
  But who knew? No one was ever interested in looking at the missing pieces. And because you and your healthcare reporter colleagues don't know a great deal about nursing and how it's practiced, you never saw the gaping holes in the picture.
  
  Thanks for your response and interest - it's appreciated (in spite of my crankiness and complaints otherwise).
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  tbird55

  1 year ago

  The only solution to the health care crisis is the creation of a single-payer, universal health care system in this country. It is the only way to tackle such a huge issue. If Congress tries to do it piecemeal, it will never get done. The California Nurse's Association are exactly right, and I am a fan of Obama, but I think he should rethink his position. Taiwan recently went to a universal health care system and saved money in the process. As an incentive to get Republicans on board, we should also overhaul Medicare and Medicaid and fold these programs into an American Universal Healthcare System to try to achieve savings there as well.
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  kkstra

  1 year ago

  To institute a single pay system means bucking some massive powers that be with enormous vested interests. Examples: the medical insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, not to mention the hospitals and doctors. Just what initial steps does Congress etc. need to take to effect change in this medical system which is controlled by the aforementioned groups? We need a think tank of top people, movers and shakers, to brainstorm this whole issue and come up with and implement solutions and action steps. How could we get such a group established? How could it be funded? Maybe John Edwards could spearhead such a movement. Let's get it going!
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  johnlewismealer

  1 year ago

  HEALTH CARE THROUGH YOUR OWN JOB IS A MUST. or better yet, stop doing drugs, overeating and drinking booze.. You'll feel better you hypocondraic!
  
  JOHN McCAIN
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