America's Health Care System

A recent study of British civil service workers confirmed earlier studies that indicated the lower the social class, the higher the mortality rate. Potential explanations for this phenomenon include biological and behavioral risk factors, as well as the psychosocial characteristics of the subjects studied. The study suggests that the encouragement of healthy behaviors and attention to social environment and job design would help reduce the gap in mortality rates between the upper and lower classes.

Despite its diminishing ability to increase life expectancy, society continues to invest a disproportionate amount of capital on modern medical technology. As McKeown states, "The public believes that health depends primarily on intervention by the doctor and that th

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expand their career options, many nurses have moved into the specialized fields of nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants, and nurse midwives. These specialists, along with physicians in general practice, share the title of primary care practitioners. The United States is experiencing a shortage of primary care practitioners particularly in underserved areas such as rural locales, among minority and low-income groups, and in the advanced practice fields. Federal support for nurse training programs in these three areas is sorely needed. Although two-thirds of nurses employed in the United States work in hospitals, the hospital setting has traditionally limited personal and professional growth opportunities for nurses. Many hospitals cope with budget constraints by substituting nurses for lower level personnel. A recent study found that only 25 percent of hospital nurses' time was spent in direct patient care. In addition, nurses still encounter problems with physicians who fail to collaborate with them on an equal professional basis. Until hospitals, the major employer of nurses, address the needs of the profession by creating new career tracks and increasing the autonomy of nurses, the nursing shortage can be expect
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Some common words found in the essay are:
, President Bush's, Medicare Medicaid, America Chapter, Kaiser Permanente, Bill Clinton's, Accounting Office, Surprising Major, Canada Europe, health care, Bill Clinton, care system, health care system, care costs, health care costs, health status, health insurance, federal government, health care united, care united, care reform, morbidity rates, health care reform, practice guidelines, health care arena,
Approximate Word count = 2480
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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