The acceptance rate at universities reached 96.14 percent this year, despite 6,464 spots being available, the University Admission Committee has said.
Problems caused by the declining fertility rate are about to emerge. More universities can be expected to shut down due to a lack of students.
In the long run, Taiwan would have to deal with a declining labor force, the increasing burden of taking care of elderly people, and the impact on tax revenues and health insurance. It is not an exaggeration to consider the low fertility rate a national security problem.
On this note, a likely nursing shortage should be taken just as seriously. A lack of nursing professionals would lead to disfuntional hospitals, and people who need medical care would become the victims.
In terms of quality, due to a high nurse-to-patient ratio, nursing professionals are usually overworked and patients cannot be looked after properly. The shortage of nurses has damaged Taiwan’s medical system.
If the situation got to the point where people could no longer obtain treatment, the medical system would collapse. This would be a catastrophe as serious as a bomb launched toward the nation from the other side of the Taiwan Strait. The government must pay more attention to the nursing shortage.
As of this month, there are 318,282 people registered as nursing professionals, but only 186,458 are practicing nurses — a ratio of 58.6 percent. The low ratio shows that there are enough nursing professionals in Taiwan, but there is a need for more registered nurses to become practicing ones.
However, mainly because of the high workloads, nursing professionals hesitate to work as a full-time nurse in hospitals.
The government has been trying to solve the nursing shortage problem. The national exam for nursing personnel is now to be held three times a year, rather than twice every year. The purpose is to recruit as many nursing professionals as possible.
However, as mentioned before, the fundamental problem is not a lack of registered nurses, but a lack of practicing registered nurses. If nursing professionals are overworked all the time, they are unlikely to consider working at hospitals. The situation will not improve, even if the national exam for nursing personnel is held 10 times a year.
It is hoped that the government will address the problem correctly. The wrong prescription does not remedy the problem.
Chiu Hui-ju is a professor at National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Translated by Emma Liu
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