Staffing rules, better pay proposed to reverse Taiwan's nurse shortage

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to focus on introducing staffing rules and improving pay to address the problem of nursing staff shortages that has resurfaced around Taiwan due to overcrowded emergency rooms (ER), the ministry said Monday.

The ministry has received wide-ranging feedback on a four-point plan announced for 2025 to retain nurses, and will soon begin drafting staffing rules for ER nurses, said Tsay Shwu-feng (蔡淑鳳), head of the Department of Nursing and Health Care under the ministry.

The ministry previously introduced nurse-to-patient ratios for nurses working in shifts on March 1, 2024 to keep hospital units running at all hours, and it offered hospitals that met the ratios financial rewards, Tsay said at a news conference Monday.

The ministry plans next to introduce a set of nurse-to-patient ratios specifically for ERs so nurses will work in an appropriately staffed workplace, according to Tsay.

Taiwan has seen severe ER overcrowding since the Lunar New Year holiday in late January due to a lack of hospital beds for ER patients who needed to be admitted for treatment.

In a statement on Feb. 22, the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine said the overcrowding was not limited to ERs but could be seen across the medical system, and it warned that it could lead to a mass exodus of health care workers.

The ministry has budgeted NT$4.7 billion (US$142.90 million) this year for incentives for nurses working night shifts and graveyard shifts, and the amount paid will be the same for each shift regardless of the type of wards or medical units nurses are assigned to, Tsay said.

As to suggestions about paying nurses monthly subsidies of NT$10,000, Tsay said the ministry's priority was to improve transparency in how nurses' salaries are calculated, and around 480 hospitals in Taiwan have published nurses' pay.

For instance, National Taiwan University Hospital says on its website the monthly salary for a licensed nurse with a university degree, including bonuses, is around NT$46,000, and those working night shifts and graveyard shifts will receive an extra NT$600-$1,080 per shift.

The ministry is also discussing with the Ministry of the Interior the possibility of allowing male nurses the option of fulfilling their military service by working in hospitals, similar to the existing alternative service program, under which servicemen work at government agencies.

Also on Monday, Taiwan Nursing and Medical Industries Union advisor Chen Yu-feng (陳玉鳳) criticized the government for ignoring nurses' complaints about low pay and pay for extra hours as well as unreasonable work assignments across different medical departments.

In an interview with an online media outlet Monday, Chen said around 700 nurses have left their jobs over the past two months and that steps were necessary to stem the tide.

She urged the government to ensure a friendly working environment, raise pay and help establish stability for nurses at work by prohibiting hospitals from assigning them to work in different departments.