The Taiwan Nurses Union yesterday said it estimates that overtime pay owed to nurses by medical centers in Taiwan each year totals about NT$3.7 billion (US$124.27 million).
On the eve of International Nurses Day, the union released the results of its latest survey on nurses’ working conditions.
The survey, which was conducted from March 1 to April 20, received 459 valid responses. The respondents had an average of 7.77 years working in the nursing profession, with 45.8 percent of them employed at medical centers.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Union director Jane Lu (盧孳豔) said that January revisions to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) added flexibility to the “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day” rule, while the survey showed that nurses on the day shift at medical centers worked an average of 9.91 hours.
The nurses did not get overtime pay for the additional two hours of work performed, Lu said, adding that it was probably considered as “doing good deeds.”
“If we do a calculation based on an hourly wage of NT$200 and about 35,200 medical center nurses, then the medical centers would owe the nurses about NT$3.7 billion per year,” she added.
The union said that the process of transferring patient responsibility from the outgoing shift of nurses to the new shift is an important job, but 85 percent of survey respondents said the handover time is not counted as working hours, with 78 percent saying that they usually arrive earlier than their shift to do preparation work.
Other “invisible working hours” included having to attend meetings or take classes during annual leave, the survey showed.
The labor regulations limit the maximum number of working hours, but the survey showed that nurse-to-patient ratios seem to have worsened as a result, while a higher ratio can lead to poor quality care for the patients and overwork for the nurses.
Lu said the union is calling on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to propose a specialized act regulating nurse-to-patient ratios for improved care quality, the Ministry of Labor to invite union representatives to accompany officials in labor inspections nationwide and both ministries to come up with more efficient strategies for encouraging nurses to join labor unions.
There are more than 160,000 nurses in Taiwan, with about 80 percent working in medical facilities, so the ministry takes the issue seriously and encourages nurses to join unions, said Chen Ching-mei (陳青梅), a senior specialist with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, adding that the ministry has established a platform on which nurses can report workplace disputes.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to