Health Care Reform: Effect on Nurses

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Health care reform has been a major issue over the past decade. The Nursing industry has in particular experienced a period of unpredictable change. On Dec 24, 2009, a landmark measure was passed in the senate by a vote of 60 to 39. This decision to pass the health care reform will change America forever. Nurses will constitute the largest single group of health care professionals. They will have a huge impact on quality and effectiveness in health care. The nursing industry will help hold this new program together by acting as the glue (The nursing industry will be the glue holding the new health care in tact.) It is estimated that by 2015 the number of nurses will need to increase to over 4 million. Nurses are the backbone of the health care industry thus creating better polices for this profession will help ease the workload and high demand. A nurse’s main concern is always to insure quality care and the safety of their patients. Under the new health care reform several new measures have been set into place to ease the transition and improve the quality of care for all patients. One program is designed to fund scholarships and loan programs to offset the high costs of education. Nursing shortages and the high turnover has become a serious epidemic. Health care reform is supposed going to solve many of these problems.

Furthermore, health care reform will provide 47 million Americans with health care. Many of the 3 million nurses see their jobs as constantly changing. Their positions as primary advocates for their patients can be compromised when adequate healthcare is not provided.

“Eighty three percent of Americans believe nurses are honest and have high ethical standards” (American Nurses p4). Nurses are in high demand; patient overload and large shortages of qualified nurses makes their jobs even harder. Health care reform would like to help ease the work load as well as increase the number of nurses coming into this field. These reforms are about delivering care that is more effective in the community. This includes improving out of hospital services to make sure that people are able to access the care they need. Many people go to hospital for a minor cold or a sore throat because they are unable to pay for high costs.(unable to see a physician, who usually requires a patient to have medical insurance.

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