What will Obamacare do to the nursing profession? This is a question on a lot of people's minds with the election just one day away now. If President Obama is elected his Affordable Healthcare Act will continue on its current path. The full effects will not be felt until 2016, but I feel there are two paths we could be lead down. Either one will affect current and future nurses.
One scenario is that people will not get to see doctors when they want to. They will not be denied healthcare, but instead will have to see a nurse before being allowed to see a doctor. This plan would be used to save money. Obviously with a registered nurse not being able to prescribe medications, this would be a of little benefit to the patient. I personally would not like to be in the position of diagnosing a patient either. The only way I can see this working is a patient being sent to see a Nurse Practitioner. However, I don't see any cost benefit there. I don't see this scenario working out in a good way, but a local MD did forecast this situation. In any event, this would increase the demand for nurses.
The next scenario is a decrease in the demand for nurses. Hospitals across the nation are already starting to close and this is a trend I see continuing. Staff usually comprises about 50 % of a hospital's expenses. That makes cutting back the nursing staff the easiest way to decrease spending. HCAPS already decreases reimbursement for hospitals. Some hospitals even feel that in the future they will be given a lump sum of money at the beginning of the year and they will either make money or lose money. This could lead to more closings. This type of change isn't acceptable.
I am hoping that neither of these scenarios play out. However, these are the two extremes that we could be face in the future. Let's hope money doesn't get in the way of patient care.
