It goes without saying that healthcare spending in the United States remains one of the most crucial and debatable issues in relation to medicine and health. At the same time, “it is no coincidence that this country also has the most expensive healthcare of any nation” having the only profit-motivated healthcare system across the globe (Branning & Vater, 2016, p. 445). However, its focus on prevailing fee-for-service payment emphasizes the volume of services though devalues the quality of care (Park et al., 2018). In addition, the high cost of healthcare has a highly negative impact on patients’ financial circumstances and healthcare specialists’ practice efficiency due to competition within the sphere.
In general, there are multiple solutions that may be proposed in order to reduce healthcare spending. However, from a personal perspective, the system is in need of fundamental changes as financial interest is at its core. In a country founded on capitalism, “where competition accelerates innovation and drives down costs in virtually every other sector of the economy, it makes sense that the United States could sustain a healthcare system based on the same principles” (Branning & Vater, 2016, p. 445). However, in reality, all stakeholders of the healthcare system are interested primarily in profit rather than the improvement of healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.
In the present day, the identified issue of nurses’ shortage is as critical as never before, and it goes without saying that this issue is directly connected with nursing education. Nursing education facilities are currently struggling to graduate registered nurses due to the shortage of clinical sites, nursing instructors, and classroom spaces (Androus, 2020). This national healthcare issue has already affected existing specialists as the shortage increases their workload. In order to reduce it, authorities should pay attention to barriers in nursing education, including budget constraints, an aging faculty, and inappropriate equipment (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2020). Moreover, public awareness concerning this subject should be raised with the help of mass media.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2020). Nursing faculty shortage. Web.
Androus, A. B. (2020). Is nursing education contributing to the nursing shortage? Registered Nursing. Web.
Branning, G., & Vater, M. (2016). Healthcare spending: Plenty of blame to go around. American Health & Drug Benefits, 9(8), 445-447.
Park, B., Gold, S. B., Bazemore, A., & Liaw, W. (2018). How evolving United States payment models influence primary care and its impact on the quadruple aim. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 31(4), 588-604. Web.