The Inpatient
Nursing Care
Iceberg
July 9, 2013 --
I am a nurse. Nursing is a major cost at hospitals, yet it's
invisible.
Most nursing is not billed. Rather, nursing is in your hospital's
room rate, as maid service is in your hotel's. Your hospital bill
shows only the tip of the healthcare services iceberg.
This is dramatically evident when you look at what you're charged
for an aspirin. Drugstores charge pennies, but hospitals charge
dollars. Crazy!
Or is it? Much of that aspirin's cost is hidden: the pharmacy that
stocks it, the cart that delivers it, the bar-code scanner that
confirms the dosage and, especially, the nurse who gives it to you,
but only after making sure that this med at this time makes sense in
his or her highly-trained clinical judgment, with an explanation and
maybe even a smile.
Nursing is invisible but essential. On your bill, that overpriced
aspirin looks crazy. But look again. You got a lot more than just an
aspirin. And thank a nurse!
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