Nurses’ union makes 9 demands amid severe nursing shortage
Nurses’ union makes 9 demands amid severe nursing shortage
2023-10-19
Taiwan is facing an acute shortage of registered nurses. According to government data, job vacancy rates soared to their highest in a decade last year. Nurses say the problem is long hours and high-demand work environments made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve put forth nine demands to improve work conditions for rank-and-file health care staff.
Nurse managers from around Taiwan stand united, raising their voices in unison. They call for better working conditions for nurses.
Chi Shu-ching
Taiwan Union of Nurses Association head
Actually we noticed the manpower shortage 11 years ago, but it wasn’t as serious at the time. Our situation today is because of the pandemic. For many nurses, the workload over the past three years of the pandemic has been absolutely overwhelming.
The nurse said that on any given day, the emergency room might see 50 to 70 patients. Due to understaffing in the patient wards, emergency room patients are forced to wait for a bed in the emergency room. This doubles the workload of emergency room staff, she said.
Chi Shu-ching
Taiwan Union of Nurses Association head
We used to have enough staff but not enough beds. But now we have beds but no staff. In many hospitals today, what used to be a 60-bed observation area is now packed with 120 beds.
Nursing staff face long hours and a high-pressure work environment made worse by the pandemic. According to health ministry statistics, the turnover rate for nurses stood at 11.79% last year. The vacancy rate rose to 6.53%, the highest in 10 years.
Tseng Chung-wei
Job bank public relations manager
As for what nurses are most dissatisfied with, the first thing is the low salary, followed by raises that are too small, raises that come too slowly. There’s also the nurse-to-patient ratio, the manpower shortage, long hours, and the shift system.
The staffing shortage is largely due to the low salary, which nurses find disproportionate to the number of patients they must care for. The Taiwan Union of Nurses Association has made nine demands to improve work conditions for nurses. They include raising wages, stationing more male nurses at hospitals under the alternative military service program, and fast-tracking a law to standardize nurse-to-patient ratios for all three shifts nationwide.
Tsai Shu-feng
Health ministry’s nursing department head
That’s possible as long as we meet our goal, which is to reach a consensus on the nurse-to-patient ratios for the three shifts by the end of the year. Once that consensus is reached, we can start to promote the law next year.
Taiwan’s population is aging fast. By 2030, it will face a predicament, as caregiving needs spike and a generation of nurses retires. Already, hospitals are struggling to meet patient needs with their depleted, shrinking workforce. For policymakers, it’s clear that conditions for nurses must change, but fixing the problem will be a long and winding road.
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國內鬧護理人力荒 公會提9訴求盼改善工作環境
2023-10-19
台灣護理人力嚴重缺乏，根據調查，因為薪資偏低加上工作負荷量大，導致護理人員大量流失，護理師公會就提出了9大訴求，希望改善基層人員工作環境。
全台各大醫院護理主管聚在一起，高喊口號，要為基層護理人員爭取更好的工作環境。
[[護理師護士公會理事長 紀淑靜]]
“那其實在11年前，我們就有發現人力不足的現象，但那時候其實還沒有這麼嚴重，那今年是因為疫情之後，其實很多的護理師，在這三年來疫情的工作量，然後勞累的程度，我想這個就是我們所謂的崩潰”
護理師分享，單日急診病人約有50至70位，但病房人力不足，患者只能繼續在急診室待床，增加急診同仁1倍的工作量。
[[護理師護士公會理事長 紀淑靜]]
“現在我們過去是，沒有床有人力，那現在的一個角度是，我們有床沒人力，每個醫院的急診的留觀室，就相對的，本來可能只有60床的留觀，現在可能還變成120床留觀”
根據衛福部統計，受到新冠疫情影響，護理人員面臨高工時、高壓環境，去年離職率達到11.79%，空缺率攀升至6.53%，創下10年新高。
[[人力銀行公關經理 曾仲葳]]
“最讓護理人員不滿意的地方，第一名的就是薪資太低，再來是加薪幅度太小，加薪速度太慢，還有護病比過高，人力吃緊、工時太長以及輪班制的制度”
人力如此缺乏，正是因為薪資普遍低，人力與照護病人比例不符，護理師公會就提出了9大訴求，希望增加護理人員薪資、提升男性護理師在醫院服替代役的比例，以及加速三班護病比推動。
[[衛福部照護司長 蔡淑鳳]]
“只要在我們的設定目標，就是年底以前，能夠對於三班護病比的一個標準，有一個共識，那共識之後呢，我們明年就會開始推動”
台灣人口老化嚴重，2030年將面臨照顧需求增加以及照護人力退休潮的問題，如今不只病人等不到床位，護理人員也疲於奔命，台灣護理職場改善，還有漫漫長路。
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