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How is this sustainable? Is the shortage of nurses a temporary, short-term issue or are there structural problems in the market? If there is a longer-term probl

How is this sustainable? Is the shortage of nurses a temporary, short-term issue or are there structural problems in the market? If there is a longer-term problem, how will it affect healthcare costs and the quality of patient care? While I generally understand the value of travel nurses and the role they have historically played in the market, if I was a healthcare consumer in the US, I'd be pretty disconcerted if I knew that the healthcare systems I relied on were so desperate for nurses that they were offering travel nurses $10,000/week.

phlipski 5y ago
Answer - it's NOT sustainable. But then again neither is US healthcare costs in general... They'll continue to march upwards and onwards until the entire country finally goes bankrupt and then (and ONLY THEN) will real change happen. Covid (and health care staff covid burnout) has just accelerated this issue... Welcome to American healthcare - most expensive healthcare in the world for the 18th best ranked system....
- LurkingPenguin 5y ago
  Yes, it seems like the US is heading to a breaking point. That said, I think ranking healthcare is difficult. I'm an expat who has used health systems in a number of different countries. The country I'm in now for example (Taiwan) has a very well-regarded single payer system. On some ranking lists, it even tops the US. I've found Taiwan's system works really well for most basic needs and is very cheap by American standards. Through the national healthcare system (NHI), I can see a specialist of my choosing at a hospital for around $20. That includes the appointment and any prescriptions or blood tests ordered. My monthly contribution to the system is high by local standards (it's in the hundreds of dollars a month) because I have a higher salary and am self-employed. In terms of care, if you have a complex health issue, I haven't been able to match the specialist care available in the US. It's not even close. But yes, specialist care in the US is expensive and therefore not available to many people.
freeone3000 5y ago
Texas has 9,000 surplus ICU patients due to COVID-19 [0] (not total patients, not cases, ICU patients). This is, predictably, causing a nursing shortage. In addition, nurses are resigning due to no effective public health measures to stop the spread -- half the state is unvaccinated, masks are not worn and the mandate is not enforced (by personal experience). As a bonus, some nurses are resigning because they themselves refuse the addition of the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required nursing vaccinations. While there are absolutely structural issues, there were the same structural issues two years ago -- this is an acute crisis due to the amount of new "healthcare consumers". 0. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/coronavirus-texas-hospitals-icu-beds/ https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/coronavirus-texas-ho...

phlipski 5y ago

Answer - it's NOT sustainable. But then again neither is US healthcare costs in general... They'll continue to march upwards and onwards until the entire country finally goes bankrupt and then (and ONLY THEN) will real change happen. Covid (and health care staff covid burnout) has just accelerated this issue... Welcome to American healthcare - most expensive healthcare in the world for the 18th best ranked system....

LurkingPenguin 5y ago
Yes, it seems like the US is heading to a breaking point. That said, I think ranking healthcare is difficult. I'm an expat who has used health systems in a number of different countries. The country I'm in now for example (Taiwan) has a very well-regarded single payer system. On some ranking lists, it even tops the US. I've found Taiwan's system works really well for most basic needs and is very cheap by American standards. Through the national healthcare system (NHI), I can see a specialist of my choosing at a hospital for around $20. That includes the appointment and any prescriptions or blood tests ordered. My monthly contribution to the system is high by local standards (it's in the hundreds of dollars a month) because I have a higher salary and am self-employed. In terms of care, if you have a complex health issue, I haven't been able to match the specialist care available in the US. It's not even close. But yes, specialist care in the US is expensive and therefore not available to many people.

freeone3000 5y ago

Texas has 9,000 surplus ICU patients due to COVID-19 [0] (not total patients, not cases, ICU patients). This is, predictably, causing a nursing shortage. In addition, nurses are resigning due to no effective public health measures to stop the spread -- half the state is unvaccinated, masks are not worn and the mandate is not enforced (by personal experience). As a bonus, some nurses are resigning because they themselves refuse the addition of the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required nursing vaccinations. While there are absolutely structural issues, there were the same structural issues two years ago -- this is an acute crisis due to the amount of new "healthcare consumers". 0. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/coronavirus-texas-hospitals-icu-beds/ https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/coronavirus-texas-ho...