The compliance rate with the nurse-to-patient ratio for the late-night shift in medical centers has gradually increased to 63 percent after one year, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said yesterday, adding that the ministry would continue its efforts to retain nurses in hospitals.
Chiu made the remark at a meeting of the Taiwan Union of Nurses Associations (TUNA), where he discussed the government’s policies aimed at addressing the long-standing nursing shortage.
The Executive Yuan in July last year approved the ministry’s 12-point strategic plan to boost the nation’s nursing workforce, allocating NT$27.5 billion (US$834.50 million) over four years to implement the plan, he said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
The ministry in March last year set a standard for the nurse-to-patient ratios for the three shifts in medical centers, regional hospitals and district hospitals. As part of its 12-point plan, the ministry also offered bonus rewards for hospitals that comply with the standard, and bonuses for nurses working the night and late-night shifts.
The bonuses given to nurses in certain shifts and hospitals that reached the ratio totaled NT$3.8 billion as of last month, Chiu said, adding that the compliance rates have been increasing.
Compliance rates during the late-night shifts in medical centers have been the lowest, but the average rate still rose from 30 to 40 percent to 63 percent in January, he said.
The number of registered nurses reached 193,503, an increase of 3,531 people compared with the same time last year, Chiu said, adding that the number of nurses in hospitals also increased by 1,433 compared with last year.
Although the number of nurses increased, there is still a shortage in hospitals, and the ministry would continue to carry out strategies to improve nurses’ working conditions and encourage them to stay in hospitals, Chiu said.
He also addressed the issue of emergency room overcrowding during the Lunar New Year holiday, encouraging hospitals to flexibly deploy their nurses among departments.
The ministry last week also proposed draft “nursing staff trans-departmental reinforcement guidelines,” he added.
However, nurse associations, including TUNA, have protested the guidelines, saying that trans-departmental deployment would become an extra burden to nurses, and it neglects the safety of nurses and patients.
Chiu said the ministry plans to establish two versions of guidelines, and that they would discuss them with nurse associations to reach a consensus before implementation.
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