Affordability in Health Care

This paper discusses the issue of unaffordable health care in Australia and how it affects the dignity and common good of patients. It suggests strategies to address this issue in nursing healthcare, such as increasing financial resources, advocating for health equality, adding healthcare facilities in remote regions, and increasing the number of healthcare professionals.

Running Head: AFFORDABILITY IN HEALTH CARE 1
Affordability in Health Care
Name
Professor
Institutional Affiliations
Course
Date

AFFORDABILITY IN HEALTH CARE 2
Affordability in Health Care
Dignity and the realization of common good among patients in nursing healthcare is an
essential aspect in matters about professional values. The process is characterized by formulating
initiatives that promote the quality of healthcare provided as well as reducing vices experienced
while subjecting patients to care (Feo, 2016). Common good refers to the ethical and moral
attributes of health services that support the patients’ wellbeing (Currie, 2017). Unaffordable
health care is an issue that affects the dignity and common good of humanity while seeking
medical intervention in Australia. People in Australia are diversified economically. Hence, the
capability of affording health care services varies significantly among the population (Hall,
2015). Therefore, this paper will demonstrate an opinion of how unaffordable health care can be
addressed in my current and future practices in the future.
Health care affordability among Australians varies with gender, age, place of origin, and
individual financial capabilities among other factors. Discrimination in Australian healthcare
systems highly dictate matters relating to age, gender, and place of origin. Research reveals that
health needs are greater among females than males in Australia. Moreover, Whitehead (2016)
discloses that women have fewer economic resources than men. This factor explains why women
may be impacted by gender bias while seeking medical interventions. (Whitehead et. al., 2016).
Then, it affects dignity and the realization of common good in nursing practice.
Also, Chatterji (2015) reveals that old aged individuals are prone to high cases of
disrespect compared to younger adults as well as children. The aged population is also
vulnerable to chronic infections resulting from their weak immune systems. Therefore,
affordability to intensive care might be a critical issue to such people. Moreover, affordability in
health care might result from originality. For instance, Aboriginals might be subjected to higher

AFFORDABILITY IN HEALTH CARE 3
incidences of health care disparities than the majority population in Australia (Chatterji et. al.,
2015). Correspondingly, most of them inhabit most of the remote areas of Australia where
medical interventions can only be obtained from public facilities. This case is different from the
majority population who inhabit most of the urban settings in Australia and can as well afford the
quality public and private healthcare services (Banham et. al., 2017).
I presume that increasing the size of financial resources would address or solve
unaffordable healthcare issues and reinforce dignity and the realization of common good among
patients seeking medical interventions from facilitators. The funds can be utilized in
developmental aspects such as increasing the size of resources required for delivering medical
interventions to patients irrespective of their financial capabilities. Such resources include
hospital beds, drugs, and diagnosis and operation kits among others. Moreover, the funds can be
used in initiating research programs that aim at identifying cure to certain critical medical issues
like HIV/AIDS, cancer, and others. Hence, it would increase affordability in health care services
among Australians as well as reinforcing dignity and common good among them.
Furthermore, I would advocate for health equality in my current and future nursing career
to enhance dignity, common good realization, and affordability among patients. This factor will
solve disparities based on gender, places or origin, and financial incapability among patients.
According to nursing policies and ethics, every human has the right to quality health care
services irrespective of their age, gender, level of education, place of origin and other factors
(Johnstone, 2015). Therefore, this strategy will assist in eliminating disparity cases that dominate
Australian healthcare systems. In turn, human dignity and common good shall be realized as well
as promoting affordability of healthcare services.

AFFORDABILITY IN HEALTH CARE 4
Another significant strategy that I would advocate for is the addition of healthcare
facilities in remote regions of Australia. It will reduce the cost of transportation impacted on
individuals who seek quality medical interventions in urban regions in current and future times
of my practice in the nursing career. Individuals would be able to use the transport financial
resources in medical costs thus increasing the affordability.
Increasing the number of professionals in healthcare facilities would create a balance in
the provider-patient ratio in current and future experiences. This strategy will propel quicker
medical interventions which would reduce the time taken by a facilitator to provide services to
many patients. Still, adequate time will be available to subject a patient to intensive care, hence,
alleviate dignity and unaffordability issues prevailing in Australian healthcare system in my
current and future nursing practices.
In conclusion, these opinions would increase affordability in medical interventions. Also,
they will minimize dignity cases and promote the realization of common good in Australian
health care systems in my current and future experiences in my nursing career.

AFFORDABILITY IN HEALTH CARE 5
References
Banham, D., Chen, T., Karnon, J., Brown, A., & Lynch, J. (2017). Sociodemographic variations
in the amount, duration and cost of potentially preventable hospitalisation for chronic
conditions among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians: A period prevalence study
of linked public hospital data. BMJ open, 7(10), e017331.
Chatterji, S., Byles, J., Cutler, D., Seeman, T., & Verdes, E. (2015). Health, functioning, and
disability in older adults—present status and future implications. The Lancet, 385(9967),
563-575.
Currie, K., Melone, L., Reilly, J., & Stewart, S. A. (2017). The patient experience of healthcare
associated infections (HCAI) during admission and post discharge: a systematic review
and narrative synthesis—protocol.
Feo, R., & Kitson, A. (2016). Promoting patient-centred fundamental care in acute healthcare
systems. International journal of nursing studies, 57, 1-11.
Hall, J. (2015). Australian health care—The challenge of reform in a fragmented system. New
England Journal of Medicine, 373(6), 493-497.
Johnstone, M. J. (2015). Bioethics: a nursing perspective. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Whitehead, M., Pennington, A., Orton, L., Nayak, S., Petticrew, M., Sowden, A., & White, M.
(2016). How could differences in ‘control over destiny’lead to socio-economic
inequalities in health? A synthesis of theories and pathways in the living
environment. Health & place, 39, 51-61.