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Public hospitals are facing shortage of nursing manpower. The hospital hopes to raise the retirement age of critical care nurses to 64 years to retain senior manpower and reduce the shortage. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has said it will compile opinions and discuss the matter.
There is a shortage of nursing manpower, especially in public hospitals. According to current rules, the retirement age for nurses engaged in hazardous work is 60 years, but they can also take early retirement at the age of 55 years. The Public Hospital Association suggested raising the retirement age of critical-care nurses to 64, and the All-Nursing Association of Nurses expressed support. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will collect opinions from all walks of life and discuss it with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
With restricted personnel and salary systems, starting salaries in public hospitals tend to be lower, making it more difficult to recruit and retain talent. Cai Jingyao, deputy director of Taipei City United Medical Hospital, said that private and consortium hospitals adopt highly flexible performance-based salary systems, while public hospitals are limited by individual upper limits on bonuses and relevant regulatory restrictions, making it difficult to respond to market competition, and the risk of brain drain is increasing.
According to the “Public Servants Retirement Pension Act” and “Certification Standards for Hazardous Work Duties of Public Servants”, public hospital nurses who work three shifts and frequently encounter dangerous incidents that endanger their physical and mental health or life safety can voluntarily retire early at the age of 55. The retirement age is 60 years. Many nurses choose to retire before the age of 55, resulting in a shortage of manpower.
Take Beirong as an example. Last year, 76 nurses retired due to critical work. A total of 33 nurses aged 55 to 59 at National Taiwan University Hospital applied for retirement, and 4 nurses retired at the age of 60. Last year, 32 nurses retired from Beijing United Hospital, 25 of them left early, and 7 of them retired.
The five major public hospital systems include hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Retirement Association, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Education, and local governments. Chen Weiming, president of the Public Hospital Association, said that all public hospitals are in the dilemma of shortage of nursing manpower. If they are restricted by age reduction and retirement restrictions for important work, the manpower shortage will become even more critical.
In June this year, the Public Hospital Association and the Taipei Veterans Affairs Association jointly held a seminar on “Development Difficulties and Response Strategies of Public Hospitals”, which is expected to raise the retirement age for public nursing staff from 60 to 64 years old, while the 55-year-old voluntary retirement requirement remains unchanged.
Chen Liqin, president of the National Federation of Nurse Practitioners and Nurses Association, said that after consulting with nursing directors in several public hospitals, they all agreed that this adjustment will help expand the retirement options of public nursing staff and the flexibility to retain senior manpower. Chen Qingmei, deputy director of the Department of Nursing and Health Care of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said they will continue to collect opinions from other public hospital units and then discuss it with the Ministry of Health and Human Services.
Summary FAQ
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Due to chronic shortage of nursing manpower in public hospitals and restricted salaries and lack of competitiveness of the system, many nurses retire early at the age of 55. The hospital believes that if the retirement age is raised to 64 years, it can increase the flexibility of retention and slow down the loss of manpower.
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As per the current rules, nurses who work in three shifts in public hospitals and are in hazardous labor positions have a retirement age of 60 years and can apply for voluntary early retirement at the age of 55 years. Because many people chose to leave early, the shortage problem became more pronounced.
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The National Federation of Nurse Practitioners and Nurses Association expressed support, believing that this would help retain senior manpower; The Ministry of Health and Welfare said that it will continue to collect opinions from all walks of life and public hospitals, and then discuss with the Ministry of Health and Human Services whether to adjust the retirement system.
