March 31, 2003

ISU School of Nursing helps
students fight rising health care costs

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — As nursing students at Indiana State University prepared a hepatitis vaccine, they were careful not to spill a drop of the precious liquid.  [video]  [download RealPlayer (Windows)]  [download RealPlayer (Mac)]

"A lot of times in the movies, they'll show the nurses shooting the solution from the syringe into the air. It is kind of dramatic, but it's certainly wasteful," Gloria Plascak, assistant professor of nursing, said during an immunization clinic at Sycamore Nursing Center, adjacent to Union Hospital.

In an era of skyrocketing health care costs, it's just one of several ways students preparing for a career in nursing get real world experience in learning to operate efficiently and economically.

One way parents of young children can help stretch their health care dollars is by obtaining vaccines in combination, said Jessica Field, an associate degree student from Greensburg. "You just pay for that one vial instead of four vials of a vaccine," she said.

Nursing students also learn the importance of keeping an accurate record of vaccines, Plascak said.

"We're making sure parents understand they need to keep that immunization record up to date so we know exactly what the child's immunization status is so we don't give unnecessary doses," she said.

"We really want to make sure that we're using the resources available to us appropriately," she explained. " Many times the manufacturers will not be able to produce enough vaccines to meet the demand. If we're wasting doses, that may mean there are some children who won't have that vaccine available to them."

At nearby Hamilton Center, students in Indiana State's baccalaureate degree nursing program gain valuable real world experience in a psychiatric nursing.

"Cost effectiveness and cost consciousness are a big part of nursing education. It's taught directly and it's taught indirectly," said Susan Sharp, professor of nursing. "Students, particularly those in our baccalaureate program who will be fulfilling leadership and administrative roles, are taught directly about cost reimbursement, insurance, how to protect patients from being overcharged and how to protect their employers through cost saving mechanisms"

Sara Bolinger, a bachelor's degree student from Brazil, learned how to jump through the hoops of health care financing by shadowing the center's utilization review coordinator, who reviews patients' Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance coverage to ensure they are treated as efficiently as possible.

"I have difficulty enough balancing insurance and it's very intimidating," Bolinger said. "When you're dealing with a mentally handicapped person, it's very nice to have someone to do that for you, to organize everything and to make sure it gets done. That's one less thing they have to worry about."

Students also learn that, as with other illnesses, mental health treatment is most effective and efficient when illnesses are diagnosed and treated early.

"Patients who go untreated end up putting a great demand on other kinds of medical services down the road," Sharp said. "It's estimated that in the United States alone we might save $2.2 billion per year if mental health services were fully covered through insurance."

Some illness will still occur, however, and when prescription drugs are needed students learn through their own research that shopping around can save money.

Students in Sharp's psychiatric nursing class compared the prices of 25 common psychotropic prescriptions at seven Terre Haute pharmacies last fall and found differences of as much as $69 per prescription between the highest and lowest cost location. They also found that no single pharmacy consistently offered the lowest price for all prescriptions.

Students also learn that patients often pay two or three times more for prescriptions in the United States than in Canada, which has national health insurance.

"Where there is national health insurance, the government negotiates the price on behalf of consumers," Sharp said.

Opponents of national health insurance argue such an approach in the United States would stifle much needed research.

While the debate over national health insurance continues, students throughout the Indiana State University School of Nursing learn the most basic cost saving technique of all: helping patients maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.

"A large part of nursing education is illness prevention: ways to help people to not get sick in the first place," Sharp said.

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Contact:
Susan Sharp, professor of nursing, (812) 237-3019 or s-sharp@indstate.edu

Writer:
Dave Taylor, ISU Public Affairs, (812) 237-3743 or devtaylo@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu