ESSAY: Advocating for Social Justice in Healthcare as a Nurse

Consider the following topics. In many U.S. communities, low-income populations use the emergency room instead of going to a physician or mid-level provider’s office. They often do not pay the bill for their service, which shifts the cost of their care to other, paying patients at the hospital. This practice drives up the cost of health care, but what else can hospitals do? They have to have a certain amount of income to keep their doors open. Is this fair? What if these sick people remain untreated and infect others? Is this just? Do they deserve care so that they don’t infect others? We talk about a culture of poverty in this country. What does this mean to you? What about those people who seem to bilk or misuse the health care system? Do they deserve care? If so, who should pay for it? Shouldn’t everyone be forced to carry health insurance so that everyone has a pay source? Can we expect people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps?
To prepare for this Discussion, you will need to read the assigned chapters, and then consider the following questions:
What does social justice mean to you? Is social justice the same as socialized medicine or even communism?
The notion of social justice is fairness so that everyone can achieve a certain level of health and wellness. After all, the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to pursue happiness. Is the health care system fair?
If you could wave a magic wand and fix the health care system, what is the first thing you would notice indicating that it had changed? Or, in your opinion, do you think it needs to be changed at all?

ANSWER

Advocating for Social Justice in Healthcare

Social justice is the act of fair and equal treatment between individuals in the community. It includes equal distribution of wealth, social privileges and opportunities to every member of the society. Social justice gives every member of a nation a chance to exploit available resources for personal development. No person is given the advantage of another because of the social class and other specialities. Socialised medicine is the provision of universal health care services to all individuals in a society. Every person is offered equal and efficient treatment for illnesses regardless of the financial status (Belknap, 2015). It is made manageable by the government covering for the extra charges that the low-income earners could not pay. Therefore, socialised medicine is part of social justice since it involves creating equal treatment opportunities to the members of society.

The health care system is not fair to shift the cost of care of the low-income earners to the paying patient which drives up the cost of health care. Social justice involves creating an equal platform for every individual to exploit his potential but not at the expenses of others. The government must cover the extra costs and not other patients. Raise in the cost of care inconvenient them and make it difficult to meet needs from different sectors of life (DeMatthews, Edwards & Rincones, 2016). The excess expenditure from the patients affects their happiness which is against the constitution that states everyone has a right to be joyful and comfortable living in the community. The primary indicator of health care…