Following President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) meeting with representatives of nursing associations on Friday, the Taiwan Nurses Union (TNU) issued a statement reiterating its demands on nurse-to-patient ratios and accusing the government of siding with administrators.
Friday’s meeting was to discuss nursing policies, such as nursing workforce management, work hours, work safety, reasonable salaries and coordination between nursing education and skill application, “but the union’s constant calling on the government to fulfill Ma’s promise of a nurse-patient ratio of 1:7 made during his presidential election campaign has been falling on deaf ears, showing the government lacks sincerity in its promise to make improvements,” the union said.
The union criticized the composition of the representatives, questioning the presence of Taiwan Regional Hospital Association director-general Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉), who is also a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
“We strongly question the reason why Su took part in the meeting. It is discrimination and an insult to the autonomy and professionalism of nurses to allow hospital administrators to have the whip hand in the discussion of nursing labor issues,” the nursing group said. “This shows the Presidential Office has little knowledge of the profession and is ignorant of the fact that hospital corporations are the exploiters in the field.”
The union said the Department of Health’s resolution on the nurse-to-patient ratio succumbed to pressure from businesses.
“The current nurse-to-patient ratio is as high as 1:20. Low nurse staffing levels can result in poor patient outcomes. As newly evolved diseases, such as H7N9 avian influenza, burst onto the scene one after another, the government’s inaction in improving working conditions in hospitals can lead to loopholes in disease control and prevention,” the union said.
While some hospital administrators have started to call for the importation of foreign nursing labor and the lowering the license threshold under the pretext of labor shortages, the union said that labor shortages were the least of the sector’s concerns.
“The participation rate of registered nurses is only 56 percent,” it said, meaning there is a sufficient supply of registered nurses, “but many of whom decided to drop out due to poor working conditions.”
The TNU urged the public to supervise the government’s revisions of the relevant laws and regulations and asked Ma to realize labor justice in the nursing profession, “for the protection of the health and safety of the general public.”
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS