Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing Education in the US and Ireland - Research Paper Example

Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing Education in the US and Ireland of the Student Subject Name of the Concerned Professor June 20, 2011 Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing Education in the US and Ireland Healthcare in the US and Ireland The healthcare system in the United States is primarily consolidated into the hands of legal private entities (Sultz & Young, 2008). In the contemporary context, the proportion of non-profit hospitals in the United States stands at seventy percent (Sultz & Young, 2008). In addition there also exist for-profit hospitals that are owned by private concerns. Surprisingly, in the United States there does not exist any nationwide provision for Universal Healthcare. Yet, the federal, state, county and city governments do own some hospitals at certain locations, which are accessible to general public. Barring a few exceptions such as Veterans Healthcare Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and TRICARE, the health insurance in the United States is predominantly provided by the private firms (Sultz & Young, 2008). Many of the Americans and their families are extended health insurance by their employers. Yet, a great many Americans are left uninsured. The US spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other nation in the world (Herzlinger, 2007). In fact a large chunk of the national income is spent on healthcare every year. Considering the very high cost of healthcare in the United States, the country has the third highest healthcare budget in the world (Herzlinger, 2007). Irrespective of the gargantuan healthcare expenditure, when it comes to parameters like infant mortality and life expectancy, the US tends to fall behind other developed nations (Herzlinger, 2007). Though there are many government funded healthcare programs, yet they are mostly limited to the veterans, the elderly, the poor, children, and disabled (Armstrong & Armstrong, 1999). Luckily, as per the federal laws, the citizens are allowed a free access to the emergency services, irrespective of their ability to pay (Armstrong & Armstrong, 1999). The hospitals, doctors and the medical personnel in the United States are primarily funded by the insurance plans and the payments received from the patients (Roth, 2010). Also, there are also many inequities in the US healthcare system in the context of ethnicity and financial status (Roth, 2010). Besides, United States is one of the only two countries in the world that allows the pharmaceutical companies to engage in direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs, thereby further adding to the cost of healthcare (Roth, 2010). The current Obama administration has given way to many healthcare reforms like Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act aimed at widening the scope of healthcare in the US. In contrast to the United States, Ireland does affiliate to the provision of universal and compulsory healthcare (McDavid, 2003). The healthcare in Ireland is administered and managed as per the provisions of the Health Act 2004 (Tassing, 2006). This act brought into existence a statutory body called the Health Service Executive, which is responsible for providing Universal Healthcare to everyone living in Ireland (Tassing, 2006). In addition to an effective public healthcare sector, there also exist private healthcare facilities in Ireland. The Health Service Executive runs a vast network of health centers scattered across the cities and rural areas of Ireland that are capable of extending a wide range of primary healthcare services (Tassing, 2006). In addition, the Health Service Executive also runs and operates many hospitals in Ireland (Tassing, 2006). There also are many hospitals run by voluntary and non-governmental organizations (Tassing, 2006). Most of the hospitals in Ireland are capable of providing a complete range of healthcare and emergency services. Most of the healthcare payments in Ireland are funded by the state. Because of the Treatment Benefit Scheme sustained by the contributions made by the citizens to the Social Insurance Fund, people without a health insurance are provided health services for free or at subsidized rates (McDavid, 2003). In case a medical treatment is not covered by state or private insurance, the citizens are allowed to claim a tax relief on that account (McDavid, 2003). Also the insurance provided by the private companies are subsidized by the state (McDavid, 2003). The foreign visitors having a European Health Insurance Card are not required to pay for a wide range of health and emergency treatments. Again, unlike the US, the Irish healthcare system is the 11th best in Europe, an achievement that is amply supported by the statistical parameters like life expectancy and infant mortality (Tassing, 2006). Every citizen is extended a free or subsidized access to prescription drugs (Tassing, 2006). Roughly eighty percent of the healthcare expenditure in Ireland is born by the state (Tassing, 2006). There is a problem of long waiting lists in the Irish healthcare system. However, this has been taken care of by National Treatment Purchase Fund, which pays for the treatment of patients requiring immediate care at private hospitals or even abroad (Tassing, 2006). Nursing Care in the US and Ireland The people in need of long term nursing care and especially the aged are extended the requisite services through nursing homes in the United States. Mostly the nursing care for the aged is paid for by the Medicare. For a nursing home to be able to designated as a Skilled Nursing Facility, which is reimbursed by Medicare, it needs to be registered and required to satisfy the incumbent federal and state laws and regulations (Hovey, 2000). As per some federal and state regulations, each skilled nursing facility needs to be managed and administered by a licensed Nursing Home Administrator (Hovey, 2000). In the recent times, many nursing homes in the United States are changing their approach to the nursing care by making the nursing facilities more personalized and homely and by diluting their hospital like or institutional approach towards nursing care (Hovey, 2000). In the current times, the US healthcare system is facing a dire shortage of skilled nursing personnel (Sultz, 2008). Much of the service and care in the nursing facilities is being provided by certified nursing assistants (Sultz, 2008). The dearth of nursing professionals in the United States is leading to continually deteriorating patient outcomes and augmenting nursing care costs, posing a heavy financial burden on the healthcare system. The nursing care in Ireland unlike the United States is less privatized. Much of the nursing care in the Ireland is extended by a large number of public nursing homes that are funded and aided by the state (Roemer, 2006). Going by the increasing opportunities for nurses to opt for specialization within nursing itself, Ireland like the United States is also facing a dire shortage of nurses (Tassing, 2006). This is adding to the costs of nursing care, just like in the United States, and the government is finding it increasingly difficult to retain the mandatory staffing levels in the public nursing homes. To compensate for this lacuna, the government is resorting to subsidizing the nursing care available through private nursing homes (Roemer, 2006). As per the Nursing Home Act 1990, the private and public nursing homes in Ireland are inspected by Social Services Inspectorate for assuring optimum standards in nursing care. Of late, the nursing care facilities in Ireland have opted for personalizing their services as is being done in the US (Tassing, 2006). Nursing Education in the US and Ireland The nursing proficiency and practice in the United States is regulated by government. It is the State Nursing Boards in the United States of America that define and determine the scope of nursing proficiency and practice (Cleary & Rice, 2005). All the skilled nurses in the United States are required to adhere to the licensing requirements of the respective State Nursing Boards (Cleary & Rice, 2005). A nurse may get registered in more than one state. Contrary to the government regulation of nursing profession in the United States, in Ireland, the nursing is a self regulated profession. The nursing practice and proficiency in Ireland is governed by the Nursing Board or An Bord Altranais (Nursing Board, 2011). It is the nursing board that determines the standards of proficiency in nursing in Ireland and this board functions as per the provisions of the Nursing Act 1985 (Nursing Board, 2011). In the United States, most of the Registered nurses resort to four avenues for soliciting nursing education that are Diploma in Nursing, Associate of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing. In addition, there also exist accelerated courses for graduates affiliated to other disciplines and for military medics and paramedics. In Ireland the pre registration nursing education is confined to colleges and universities and all the preregistrations nursing courses are of degree level (Nursing Board 2011). The education programs requisite and essential for the registration purposes are governed by the Nursing Board (Nursing Board 2011). Conclusion Though the US healthcare system invests more on healthcare and nursing care, the healthcare and nursing care in Ireland is not only Universal, but more efficient. Also the nursing education and certification in Ireland is more consolidated and uniform as compared to the United States. In conclusion, both the systems can learn a lot from each other. References Armstrong Pat & Armstrong, Hugh. (1999). Universal Health Care: What the United States can Learn from the Canadian Experience. Westport, CT: New Press. Cleary, Brenda & Rice, Rebecca. (2005). Nursing Workforce Development. New York: Springer. Herzlinger, Regina. (2007). Who Killed Health Care?. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hovey, William. (2000). The Worst of Both Worlds: Nursing Home Regulations in the United States. Policy Study Review. 17.4, 43-49. McDavid, David. (2003). Who Pays? Funding Healthcare in Europe. Consumer Policy Review. 13.5, 166-170. Nursing Board. (2011). An Bord Altranais. Retrieved June 18, 2011 from, http://www.nursingboard.ie/en/homepage.aspx Roemer, Milton I. (2006). National Health Systems of the World. London: Oxford University Press. Roth, William F. (2010). Comprehensive Healthcare for the US. New York: Productivity Press. Sultz, Harry & Young, Kristina. (2008). Health Care USA. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Tassing, a Dale. (2006). How Ireland Cares. Dublin: New Island. Read More