The US Healthcare System Has Failed: The New Netflix Movie Good Nurse Is The Proof

I am not alone; I experienced the same

The new Netflix movie Good Nurse is proof of the failed US healthcare system. I worked as a nurse in the US and I was a patient as well in the system for 16 years.

A few days ago, I watched the movie and let me tell you, I was so relieved, I live in Spain. The healthcare system is not perfect but by far better than in the US.

Here are a few examples of healthcare experience in Spain vs in the US

Last month, I dislocated my kneecap and went to ER ASAP. The pain was crucifying. Here are the key points of efficient universal healthcare:

• I was signed in within 5 minutes, I just told them, my name and NIE( alphanumeric residency number)
• I was triaged within 5 minutes
• Assessed by an Orthopedic surgeon within 5 minutes
• Done X-rays in less than 10 minutes
• Given painkillers within 25 minutes of arrival
• Get my kneecap placed back within 1.5 hours of arrival (we were waiting for the painkillers to kick in)
• For the first time, I experienced empathy and a doctor checking on me every few minutes

I was out of the ER with a follow-up appointment with an orthopedic surgeon within 3 days and the cost of the entire ER visit was $0.

Meantime a healthcare example in the US

In the Good Nurse movie, we see a very sick nurse working just because she doesn’t have healthcare insurance. She has to work for a few months for the health insurance to kick in. In the meantime, she pays a whopping $980 for consultation and a sonograph of the heart.

Just her story is mindblowing and so inhumane and very realistic of what I experienced in the US.

My friend developed a bladder infection while traveling in Spain and required hospitalization, lab work, an MRI, and IV treatments.

The total cost was $500, which he had to pay out of pocket since he did not have travel health insurance.

Then she can’t take medical leave before she invested at least 1 year of working at the hospital.

A 29-year-old with breast cancer was denied mammography by her health insurance company. They cited that she was too young to have one.

On Medium, you can find lots of great stories from writers describing their healthcare experience in America.

The system doesn’t make sense in the US and I ask following questions:

How can someone work when is sick and not able to take medical leave?

Does this imply that if you’re ill in the US, you’re doomed?

Is it true that those who can’t work are supposed to die because they are uninsured?

Does capitalism really work in the best interest of its citizens when it takes advantage of those who are disadvantaged or sick?

Is this what glamorous American freedom is supposed to look like?

Then, the film tells the story of Charles Cullen, a nurse who was convicted of killing 35 patients. However, it is believed that he may have killed up to 400 people.

The film highlights how the US healthcare system failed to protect patients from Cullen. He was able to get away with murder for so long because the system allowed him to move from job to job without any repercussions. Even when patients died under his care, there was no investigation into their deaths.

It is only when a group of dedicated detectives began to piece together the evidence that they were able to bring Cullen to justice. However, by then it was too late for the hundreds of patients who had died at his hands.

And I believed this definitely happened because hospitals in the US are for-profit and this kind of accusation would financially ruin them.

It is all about money, money, money…

When I was working at the hospital in Colorado, one of the patients in the psych unit who was under suicide observation for 24 hours but died. He killed himself.

We as hospital staff were supposed to be quiet about what happened. No negative rep for the hospital.

When I worked for a major healthcare insurance company, the only managers who were praised were those who denied the most claims. The movie Rainmaker was an accurate portrayal of this environment:

“ In a society filled with brilliant doctors and state-of-the-art technology, -

- it’s obscene to let this boy wither away and die.

He had an insurance policy that his mother paid good money for.

Not big money, but good money.”

Also, you would think medical foster families are seen as goodwill, the harsh reality is that they’re only in it for the money. The kids were the cash cows. They used the poor kids on ventilators to enrich themselves and buy luxurious cars, homes, etc. One of the so-called nurse saviors was reported by me for stealing money from Medicaid through the submission of false medical claims.

The US healthcare system is failing its citizens. That is why I left the predatory healthcare system in the US. I didn’t feel like I was helping people by working in the healthcare industry; instead, I felt like I was making hospital CEOs rich.

I now live in Spain, where healthcare is free for everyone. I pay taxes, but I don’t have to worry about going bankrupt if I get sick.

In the US, it is estimated that medical bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy. This is something that does not happen in Spain.

In the US, it felt like the only people who were getting ahead were the ones who were taking advantage of the system. I’m glad I made the decision to leave, and I hope more people will start to see how broken the US healthcare system is.

Remember sooner or later you will get sick and the predatory healthcare system will eat up all your savings present and future ones.