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Perspectives of nursing executives regarding ethical-economic issues
D L Bantz1, A W Wieseke, J Horowitz
1School of Nursing, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.
Nursing Economic$
|July 20, 1999
Summary
Nurse executives and staff nurses perceive healthcare cost controls differently. While both groups support taxpayer-funded care for the medically indigent, fewer nurses are willing to pay higher taxes personally.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Nursing Economics
- Bioethics
Background:
- Healthcare systems face challenges in resource allocation and cost containment.
- Evolving federal and managed care reimbursement policies impact healthcare economics.
- Ethical considerations are paramount in managing scarce health resources.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore nurse executives' perspectives on ethical-economic issues in healthcare resource allocation.
- To compare nurse executive (NE) and staff registered nurse (RN) views on cost controls and their impact.
- To assess willingness to support increased public funding for medically indigent care.
Main Methods:
- Survey of nurse executives on ethical-economic issues.
- Comparison of NE survey responses with prior staff RN survey data.
- Analysis of perceptions regarding cost controls' impact on staffing and patient care quality.
Main Results:
- Staff RNs perceived greater negative impacts of budget cuts on staffing and patient care quality than NEs.
- Both NEs and RNs favored increased taxpayer contribution for medically indigent care.
- Less than half of NEs and only 17% of RNs were willing to pay higher taxes personally.
Conclusions:
- Discrepancies exist between nurse executive and staff nurse perceptions of cost control impacts.
- There is consensus on shared taxpayer responsibility for the medically indigent.
- Personal financial willingness to support healthcare funding differs significantly between nurse leaders and frontline staff.