The National Health Research Institutes has said that there would be a shortage of between 15,000 and 24,000 nurses by next year. Sub-replacement fertility and young nurses’ dislike of clinical work are not the only reasons for this, with low wages and overwork exacerbating the issue.
There are four ideas that would help address the issue:
First, healthcare personnel’s income should be raised by increasing healthcare fees. Providing retention bonuses and employment bonuses should motivate nurses to stay in or to join clinical jobs.
Second, regulations for nurse-patient ratios in three shifts and categories of healthcare centers should be amended. Currently, the average nurse-patient ratio in medical centers is one to nine; the ratio in regional hospitals is one to 12; and the ratio in district hospitals is one to 15. All these are higher than the international ratio of one to six. Each time a nurse takes care of an extra patient, the risk of death could rise by 7 percent.
To lighten the workload, the regulations should be revised and explicitly state that the day-shift nurse-patient ratio in medical centers, regional hospitals and district hospitals should range from one to five to one to seven; while the afternoon-shift ratio should range from one to eight to one to 10; and the night-shift ratio should range from one to 11 to one to 13.
Third, the work environment should be improved. Some nurses switch careers, because they cannot achieve a satisfactory work-life balance. Twenty-four-hour childcare centers in medical institutions would take some of their stress away.
Finally, the training for new nurses should be adjusted. The work culture that comes with the senior-junior arrangement has been a long-lasting problem in Taiwan, with seniors sometimes making unreasonable demands to juniors, instead of helping junior nurses get familiar with clinical care and giving them the benefit of their experience.
In recent years, besides COVID-19, heavy workloads, high levels of pressure and low pay have also caused a great deal of resignations. It has become a vicious cycle exacerbating the nursing shortage.
The government should address this issue to ensure high-quality healthcare for the public.
Yeh Yu-cheng is a secretary at the Pingtung Public Health Bureau.
Translated by Chien Yan-ru
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