NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIO:
Nursing groups accused the government of failing to live up to its policies, saying that it was attempting to profit illicitly from the delay
By Lin Yi-chih and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Amendments to the Medical Care Act (醫療法) stipulating a three-shift nurse-to-patient ratio are to be implemented in phases starting on May 20 next year, President William Lai (賴清德) said at an event observing International Nurses Day yesterday. Lai’s response came after nurses’ rights groups accused the government of failing to live up to its policies, saying that the Ministry of Health and Welfare was derelict in its duties and attempting to profit illicitly from the delay. The pledge that nurse rights’ groups and Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) signed on Tuesday last week stated that the policy would be enacted by Dec. 31 next year, as influenza cases usually peak at the start of the year, Lai said.
President William Lai, second left, presents an award to a nurse at a ceremony for International Nurses Day in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The nursing shortage would be worse with shifts in annual leave and the public’s habit of considering a change of job ahead of the Lunar New Year, he said. Nursing rights groups had asked how the policy would be implemented in psychiatric departments, but Lai only said that he had asked the ministry to establish a task force to oversee the allocation of hospital staff.
The Legislative Yuan on Friday last week passed the third reading of the amendment, which stated that the ratio of emergency beds or common sick beds attended by nurses should be designated by the competent central government authority, while keeping in mind patient safety and labor rights. The ratio should be reviewed every three years and adjusted as needed, with the first official ratio set for March 2024. The March 2024 ratio had included an addendum stating that the ratios do not apply to hospitals focused on psychiatry or psychiatry-related teaching hospitals.