Health care discussion

Megan McArdle discusses the same New York Times article that I linked to the other day. While she posts interesting stuff, some of the real insight can be gleaned from the comments, with this one about nurse licensing particularly useful:

There was a time, not that long ago, when nurses did not attend college. They went to 3 year Nursing Schools - run by hospitals. Their training was all nursing, and a lot of it was like "on the Job" - as doctors are taught. At the end of the 3 year course the girl got her RN. The cost was quite low.

I'm well aware of the above because I have 2 sisters who dit (sic) that - at St. Vincents Hospital School of Nursing. Both ended up being post op nurses.

Somewhere along the line some bureaucrat idiots decided that a BS in Nursing was necessary. Further, union types (at least in NY) argued that the girls were "working for free" during their training, so clinical training was reduced. Both of my sisters "retired" to raise families. One decided to go back after her youngest went to college. She took a refresher course, but was required to get a BS to maintain her RN. What did she have to take? She had to take stuff like History and English Lit.

Now, you might be saying: "Why does a nurse need History or English Lit?". Well, ask the bureaucrats.

Now girls are expected to spend exorbitant sums of money on tuition, take courses that have NO bearing whatsoever on nursing, get little clinical training, and then have to work shifts, weekends, holidays, etc.

I've discussed the problems with licensing before. This is another favorite comment of mine.