Access to Health Insurance

Access to Health Insurance

Many theories, philosophies and ethics related to the field of nursing and clinical practices have been continuously in evolution phase over the past few decades. Ethical issues are considered as subtle and insidious issues rather than overt in occupational health settings (Rogers, 1988). Many issues are related to the field of nursing and clinical care including benefits and privacy of the patients' health information, associated costs, discrimination at work place and illegal or unethical acts such as fraudulent credentials. The major approach utilized for dealing with such issues is the integration of clinical practice with the core professional values or nursing specified by AACN which incorporates a foundation giving professional and ethical meaning to the practice of nursing (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 1998).

Cultural values in a work place refer to the commitment of a person or entire society to a system of beliefs e.g. the nursing values in the United States of America are rooted in the values of the culture of the United States with major prominence of individualism and self-reliance (Davis, 1999). Nursing, being a professional discipline is based on the combination of art, science and on ethical values as well. The practice of nursing is based on professional as well as personal values which are associated with the physiological realities of nursing practice such as phenomenon of births and pregnancies are surrounded by the cultural values of any society. Personal values include the values that are centered on the self. As defined by Taylor (2008), personal beliefs of a person act as a set of standard guidelines for the guidance of the behavior of one's own self. Practitioners of nursing, just like other individuals are not born with a set of standard values. However, the formation of these values takes place with the interactions of a person with his family, society and external environment over his/her lifetime. The primary factors which have critical influence on the values also affect the intentional and unintentional decisions of a person.

The professional values of nursing and clinical practices are related to the set of guidelines which are centered on the benefits and rights of the patient which contradicts with personal values which are self-centered. Professional values of a person guards the practices of a nursing practitioners and provides a set of guidelines for their behaviors towards the patients. The professional values include the protection of patients' health status, ensuring the compliance of critical decisions related to health and safety standards. Awareness of professional and personal values facilitates the decision making capabilities and helps to comply with the health and safety standards properly.

Access to Health Insurance

The main dilemma associated with the healthcare system of the United States is the low public access to the health insurances. The parameter of health insurance acts a primary indicator of the access to medical care. According to Samuel et al. (2003) almost 13 million of the United States population lacked the coverage to the health insurance in ...