The Legislative Yuan has written nurse-to-patient ratios into law, giving
legal force to a policy the Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced in
2024.

Under the amendment to the Medical Care Act, hospitals that fail to meet
staffing ratios face fines and could be ordered to suspend operations for up
to one year if they are penalized three times without making sufficient
improvements.

Fines range from 50-thousand to 250-thousand NT for district hospitals,
200-thousand to 1-million NT for regional hospitals, and 1-million to
2-million NT for medical centers.

The ratios set day, evening, and night shift targets for each hospital tier,
ranging from 1 nurse to 6 patients on day shifts at medical centers, to 1
nurse to 15 patients on night shifts at district hospitals.

All three major parties supported making the ratios statutory, but disagreed
on how the advisory committee determining them should be composed.

Taiwan has around 300-thousand licensed nurses, but only about 190-thousand
are currently working in the field.

(PB)