HEALTHCARE AND NURSING

Role government in influencing healthcare and nursing practice in the United States

Role government in influencing healthcare and nursing practice in the United States

Introduction

This research paper is about the role government in influencing healthcare and nursing practice in US. It contains background and historical information regarding various developmental activities introduced and implemented by US government in influencing domestic healthcare and nursing practice. The composer of this paper asserts a position regarding role of government in influencing healthcare and nursing practice in US by giving logical reasoning and arguments supporting the assertion made.

Thesis Statement:

The role of US federal government is not adding value in the healthcare and nursing sector due to lacking in policies implemented for development of these sectors, and inappropriate utilization of federal funds in influencing best practices in healthcare and nursing practices.

Discussion

US is generally viewed as having the best health care in the world—when best is defined as having the most advanced technology and highly skilled specialists. However, when US is compared on basic health status factors against other countries in the world, it comes up deficient. Infant mortality status is a measure of how many children die before their first birthday. On this measure, US ranks 42nd in the world, behind countries such as Cuba, Portugal, Finland, the Czech Republic and many others. When measured on the average life span of its citizens, US was reported in 2006 at 78 years, the same as Cuba Chile and behind countries like Switzerland (82), Spain (81), Sweden (81), Canada (81), Singapore (80), and the UK (79) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008).

Composer's asserted position:

These data suggest that the role of US government in influencing healthcare and nursing practices in the United States has not achieved desired results, as significant value addition is not observed in healthcare and nursing sectors in the United States against the funds allocated for utilization in these sectors. The barometer used in making this assertion is overall health condition of US population as compared to other developed and underdeveloped countries. The US population, while enjoying access to the most highly sophisticated medical services available, is not as healthy as other developed and underdeveloped countries. This is due to lacking in government's role in developing best practices in healthcare and nursing (Petasnick, 2007).

Discussion of assertion by logical reasoning and arguments:

This presents a problem for health care leadership—one in which improving the health of the community comes into conflict with the ...