The Ministry of Health and Welfare last week announced a new system of three work shifts with specific nurse-to-patient ratio targets. The ministry has earmarked a budget of NT$4 billion (US$128 million) to reduce the ratio of nurses to patients, which would help to improve the quality of care for inpatients and reduce the number of in-hospital deaths.
Given the nation’s shortfall of more than 7,000 nurses in all categories of hospitals, this advancement in the policy of three shifts with specified nurse-to-patient ratios is definitely welcome.
With regard to the new system’s nurse-to-patient ratio, official data show that, apart from district hospitals, relatively more of which can reach the target ratios, hospitals in the other two categories, namely medical centers and regional hospitals, currently face a shortfall of about 3,400 nurses.
In the case of regional hospitals, nationwide they are about 50 percent short of meeting the standard nurse-to-patient ratios for all three shifts. If they cannot recruit enough nurses to meet the target ratios, they might be forced to meet them by reducing the number of beds instead.
As for the ministry assigning night-shift bonuses, some critics question why district hospitals’ bonuses are the lowest although their nurse-to-patient ratios are the best.
To be specific, the ministry’s standard ratios for medical centers are one nurse to nine patients for the evening shift and one to 11 for the night shift; for regional hospitals, they are one to 11 for the evening shift and one to 13 for the night shift; and for district hospitals, they are one to 13 for the evening shift and one to 15 for the night shift.
Critics said that in all three cases nurses have to sacrifice their sleeping hours, so why should district hospital nurses be paid lower bonuses? Does this not go against the principle of equal pay for equal work?
The equal pay for equal work principle should also include different risks and stress factors. Nurses working night shifts at medical centers often have to deal with patients needing urgent intervention. The risks and stress levels for nurses working night shifts in different categories of hospitals are different, so paying them different bonuses complies with the principle of equal pay for equal work.
For a long-term solution, the National Health Insurance’s budget should be gradually increased. With regard to budget allocation, there should be a guaranteed point value of 0.95 or more. Hospitals’ management and operations should be strengthened. Nurses’ wages and conditions need to be improved to attract more people to join the profession and thoroughly resolve the existing shortage.
Yeh Yu-cheng is a secretary at the Pingtung Public Health Bureau.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of