heir actions and the care they provide. If there is an influx of the private for- profit sector into the health care system accountability is threatened as hospitals decrease standards in order to increase profit. Nurses are also ethically responsible for assuring that clients are provided with safe, competent, quality care (CAN, 1997). As previously stated, a decrease in quality is inevitable as money becomes the driving force behind health care provision. The ethics of fairness and equitable distribution dictate that health care should be based on need rather than ability to pay. This belief is reinforced by the AARN who, in their position statement on privatization, affirms its loyalty to the maintenance of the principles of the CHA (AARN,1995). Nursing also prides itself as a profession that takes a holistic approach to providing care for the individual. As the medical model and profit align to affirm their position of authority in health care it is the client who would suffer. There would be an urge to focus on a quota of parts to be fixed in a specified time frame rather than to focus on the individual and their specific needs.(Armstrong & Armstrong, 1996). Neglecting the principles of the CHA in order to incorporate privatization will have detrimental effects on the integrity of nursing practice.ConclusionAll of this is by no means meant to indicate that the current Canadian Health Care system is ideal. Nor does it stand to say that radical restructuring is not necessary in the evolution of Canadas Health Care system. Rather that the restructuring necessary for the system to thrive needs to be undertaken as a holistic approach, not simply focused on cutting costs for the public sector. Cutbacks and downsizing are not the means by which to rejuvenate an ailing health care system. Nor is the introduction of investor-owned hospitals that strive to maximize profits, not to decrease costs. Reform and restructuring need to start at th...
