Such issue as universal coverage is a subject of heated debate among policy-makers, taxpayers, economists, and certainly medical workers. The key question is whether health care is the individual right that cannot be disputed and which is not determined by the income level, or the individual responsibility of the person, who has to take independent steps in order to protect and promote his/her health. In this paper, I would like to discuss how universal coverage may affect healthcare practitioners in my desired profession, in particular, community nursing. I work in a Community Health Center which serves those patients who cannot afford medical insurance. For these people, the solution of this dilemma may be crucial.
Overall, such topic as universal coverage has become so vital for American society due to the reforms recently carried out by the US government. These reforms will involve increased expenditures on medical programs, and this will subsequently affect every citizen of the country since he/she is a taxpayer. The community has to decide if they as a group of people are obliged to spend their money in order to support the impoverished populations or those, who do not share the same rights with American citizens, in particular, illegal immigrants. At the moment, the US universal healthcare system is only being developed, and it is unknown what kind consequences it will entail for medical workers. Yet, in seems to me that in the near future the role of community nurse will change under any scenario. The thing is that these professionals give help to people, irrespective of their social, financial, or legal status. The responsibility for the prevention of diseases lies on his/her shoulders and this task requires a great number of skills and competences. A community nurse must be able to act as a counselor, educator, case manager, and assessor of the patient’s state. In the years to come, the importance of community nurses will only increase because modern healthcare professional understand that screening and monitoring are instrumental for the well-being of the society. Even at this point, a nurse is not viewed as someone, who does only menial jobs, and who cannot make any independent decisions. This person has to possess well-developed leadership skills and be able to act independently. However, new leadership role will also increase the scope of nurses’ duties and responsibilities. It is also quite probable that the training of nurses will change so that they could better promote the health of the community.
Moreover, the adoption of universal healthcare system would allow Community Health Centers to better serve the needs of the patients. Currently such organizations have to cope with the incessant inflow of people, and many nurses are definitely overworked. Better coverage will enable to better distribute the resources of medical institutions and efforts of healthcare professionals. They will be able to perform their duties in a much better way. Many people, who oppose universal coverage, believe that they would be deprived of an opportunity to choose their own treatments and physicians. They misinterpret the meaning of this reform, as its purpose is to ensure that American people have adequate access to healthcare and that no one is put into underprivileged position. Community nurses do utmost to help uninsured people, and the implementation of universal coverage will make their work slightly easier.