Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing education in the Research Paper

Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing education in the US and Ireland - Research Paper Example Barring a few exceptions such as Veterans Healthcare Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and TRICARE, the health insurance in the United States is predominantly provided by the private firms (Sultz & Young, 2008). Many of the Americans and their families are extended health insurance by their employers. Yet, a great many Americans are left uninsured. The US spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other nation in the world (Herzlinger, 2007). In fact a large chunk of the national income is spent on healthcare every year. Considering the very high cost of healthcare in the United States, the country has the third highest healthcare budget in the world (Herzlinger, 2007). Irrespective of the gargantuan healthcare expenditure, when it comes to parameters like infant mortality and life expectancy, the US tends to fall behind other developed nations (Herzlinger, 2007). Though there are many government funded healthcare programs, yet they are mostly limited to the veterans, the elderly, the poor, children, and disabled (Armstrong & Armstrong, 1999). Luckily, as per the federal laws, the citizens are allowed a free access to the emergency services, irrespective of their ability to pay (Armstrong & Armstrong, 1999). The hospitals, doctors and the medical personnel in the United States are primarily funded by the insurance pla ns and the payments received from the patients (Roth, 2010). Also, there are also many inequities in the US healthcare system in the context of ethnicity and financial status (Roth, 2010). Besides, United States is one of the only two countries in the world that allows the pharmaceutical companies to engage in direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs, thereby further adding to the cost of healthcare (Roth, 2010). The current Obama administration has given way to many healthcare reforms like Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Healthcare and