This constant whining about a shortage of nurses and such is because the nurses association, which tries to get more pay for them (not undeserved, may I say, since it is hard work)likes to emphasize the shortage.
You don't know what you're talking about. I'm on a local rural hospital board. We face the problem of finding nurses on a daily basis.
Also, some hospitals are in trouble because of high insurance premiums on hospitals due to TRIAL LAWYERS.
Yes. Legal costs are a big problem which must be addressed. But they're not the major problem - which is that medical costs are INHERENTLY EXPENSIVE. There's NO WAY a society can afford to provide needed and wanted services to everyone.
What you "know" is a compilation of democrat talking points.
What I know comes from a couple of years of volunteer service on the Board of Directors of a small rural hospital (in a very Republican district)- trying to keep it viable. It's a hell of a lot more than you know.
What we've concluded is that the only way to save the hospital is to raise local taxes. The alternative - closing the hospital - is far worse.
**medical costs are INHERENTLY EXPENSIVE. There's NO WAY a society can afford to provide needed and wanted services to everyone.**
This is true and this is what people like to complain about with the "I can go to the discount store and get a huge bottle of aspirin for $5, why does the hospital charge that much?" question. BECAUSE the hospital has to pay for heating and cooling and replacement parts on all the equipment, laundry, the janitor and supplies, the water bill, and a host of little 'insignificant' items which keep a hospital functioning. No one thinks about that when they go to the hospital. All that paperwork isn't 'free' for the taking.
WHILE we're talking about infections, let me add a tidbit I just learned: it takes 20 seconds of hand washing with soap to remove the germs. Water should be either tepid or can be cool. The key is making sure you're scrubbing your hands with the soap for 20 seconds. I'm told that singing 'happy birthday' though twice is 20 seconds (YMMV). One thing I have noticed is that 'flavored' soaps release their perfume at about 20 seconds.