The legislature yesterday mandated nurse-to-patient ratio targets in response to longstanding calls to ease nurses’ workloads, and stipulated that hospitals that contravene could be suspended for up to one year.
According to the amendment to the Medical Care Act (醫療法), nurse-to-patient ratios would be first set at the target levels introduced by a Ministry of Health and Welfare policy in March 2024.
The ratios must be reviewed by the ministry every three years, taking into account patients’ interests and nurses’ labor rights, and adjusted when necessary, amendments proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and backed by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) stated.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
All three major parties, including the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), supported making nurse-to-patient ratios a statutory requirement, but differed on the mechanism for determining the ratios.
The DPP proposed that the ministry consult an advisory committee, with one-third of its members representing nurses, when determining the ratios, while the TPP’s version stated that such representatives should make up no less than half of the total.
Outside the legislature, several groups organized a protest following reports that the proportion of nurses on the advisory committee could be lowered from one-half to one-third, as lawmakers held negotiations before the votes took place.
After negotiations broke down, lawmakers proceeded to vote on each version.
According to the ministry’s 2024 policy, the three-shift nurse-to-patient target ratios are 1:6 for day shifts, 1:9 for evening shifts and 1:11 for night shifts at medical centers.
For regional hospitals, the ratios are 1:7, 1:11 and 1:13 for day, evening and night shifts respectively, and 1:10, 1:13 and 1:15 for district hospitals.
Hospitals that met that standard were eligible for incentives, but the ministry had no legal basis to impose penalties for noncompliance.
Following the amendments, hospitals that contravene the regulation would face fines ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$250,000 (US$1,590.89 to US$7,954.44) for district hospitals, NT$200,000 to NT$1 million for regional hospitals and NT$1 million to NT$2 million for medical centers.
Hospitals also face suspension for up to one year if they are penalized three times without sufficient improvements.
The ministry had introduced the nurse-to-patient ratios following calls from nurses to address excessive workloads and staffing shortages, a situation that many believed to have pushed nurses to leave their jobs.
TPP Legislator Chiu Hui-ju (邱慧洳) said Taiwan has about 300,000 licensed nurses, but only about 190,000 are currently in practice.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS