Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) on Wednesday last week told lawmakers that the ministry would look into the issue of hospital bed closures caused by a nursing shortage, and sit down with nurse associations to discuss feasible solutions.
Local news media last week reported multiple cases of nurse shortages leading to hospitals limiting bed capacity and reducing surgery hours, leading to long waiting lists for certain treatment procedures and increasing “corridor care” — caring for patients on chairs or beds in waiting rooms or corridors.
Some news reports cited physicians as saying that up to 30 percent of a hospital’s beds were closed, while post-surgery patients at a hospital received corridor care for two to three days before being moved to a ward, and a hospital even introduced a rule of no surgeries after 2pm due to a nursing shortage.
Responding to public concerns, the ministry’s Department of Nursing and Healthcare released data showing that the number of registered nurses increased by 3,592 from a year earlier, including 809 more nurses working in healthcare facilities and an increase of 1,879 hospital beds from a year earlier — seemingly to rebut the claims.
However, lawmakers cited more cases to emphasize the seriousness of the nationwide nursing shortage crisis, and urged the ministry to investigate what is happening, and monitor and address the issue.
Nurses from three hospital unions on Thursday also called on the ministry to come up with solutions to improve nurses’ working conditions, and demanded union participation in routine negotiations, a fairer reward mechanism and transparency in nurse-to-patient ratio, nursing turnover and vacancy rates.
The shortage is a complex issue caused by various factors and has been going on for several years. Nurses’ unions in Taiwan have been holding protests to bring attention to the high turnover rates and demand better work conditions from about a decade ago.
The issue is not limited to Taiwan.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projected an average of 193,100 openings for registered nurses each year through 2032, while the US Health Resources and Services Administration estimated a shortage of 63,720 full-time registered nurses in 2030.
In the UK, studies estimated a shortage of 46,000 nurses this year, which might grow to 140,000 in 2030 without intervention, and demand for 21,000 more beds by the same year. British media last month also reported “corridor care” was becoming normalized, while a survey by the Royal College of Nursing found one in three nurses saw patients being cared for in inappropriate places.
The Executive Yuan last year estimated the demand for registered nurses would hit 240,000 to 260,000 by 2030, but there were only about 186,000 in the workforce. In September last year, it proposed a NT$1.8 billion (US$55.81 million) “12-point incentive program” to improve nursing recruitment and retention, including reducing the nurse-to-patient ratios for the three shifts and offering a graveyard-shift bonus, which took effect this year.
However, nurses’ unions say the new policies are not effective, as the reward mechanism is not fair and hospital management cut down or distorted the incentives.
The nursing shortage crisis is likely to continue without concerted action, as a rapidly aging population needs more healthcare, retirements are outpacing new workers, who cannot keep up with the growing demand. The shortage in turn reinforces stress levels and burnouts and raises turnover.
The government must take the shortage seriously, listen to nurses’ concerns, identify the root causes, and work with nurse associations, hospitals, nurse educators, lawmakers and other stakeholders to address the complex issue. Coordinated planning, action and investment would ensure a sustainable nursing workforce, as well as safe and high-quality services for patients.
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
RSS