Introducing Clinical Nursing Professors and Shortening Transfer Periods... Continued Expansion of Nursing College Quotas

Ministry of Health and Welfare Announces Comprehensive Support Plan for Nursing Workforce

To improve the quality of nursing personnel, the 'Clinical Nursing Professor System' will be introduced, and as a solution to the shortage of personnel, the education period for nursing department transfer students will be reduced from the existing 3 years to 2 years through the introduction of an 'Intensive Transfer Course.' To facilitate the supply and demand of nurses in regional hospitals, various work forms that consider additional fees will be promoted to reduce the intensity of demanding work.

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong is delivering opening remarks at the "On-site Nurses Meeting for Improving Nurses' Working Environment" held on the 20th at Ewha Mokdong Hospital in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

On the 25th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the '2nd Comprehensive Support Plan for Nursing Personnel (Draft)' based on these contents. The Ministry explained that after forming the 'Nursing and Care Integrated Service System Development Council' in December last year and discussing improvement plans for the entire system seven times, they formed a consultative body with nursing experts and the Korean Nurses Association in January this year and derived this plan through five meetings.

First, to cultivate high-quality nursing personnel, the Clinical Nursing Professor System will be introduced, where hospital-employed adjunct professors will participate. New nurses will be institutionalized to receive clinical education and training for one year after placement, and for regional hospitals, financial support such as regional additional fees will be provided to alleviate supply difficulties when hiring nurses.

Additionally, the policy to expand nursing college admission quotas will be temporarily maintained. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, over the past 15 years, the admission quota for nursing colleges has approximately doubled, increasing the number of clinical nurses by about 2.3 times; however, the number of active nurses per 1,000 people remains at 4.94, falling short of the OECD average of 8.0. Considering the alleviation of nurse workload, expansion of personnel placement, and increased community demand, the Ministry sees no choice but to temporarily expand admission quotas. However, they stated that a 'Nursing Personnel Supply and Demand Committee,' including the government, nursing sector, hospital sector, and civil society, will be formed to decide admission quotas based on social discussions. Alongside this, they plan to introduce an 'Intensive Transfer Course' that shortens the nursing department bachelor's transfer education period from 3 years to 2 years to add 1,000 to 2,000 nurses annually.

Measures to improve nurses' working conditions and self-development are also included. First, the goal is set for one nurse to care for five patients, and the nursing personnel support fee will be restructured so that hospitals receive more financial support the more nursing staff they deploy. Nurses and nursing assistants will be increasingly assigned to wards for severe surgical patients, dementia, and delirium patients, and institutional-level compensation will be strengthened if essential nursing personnel and legal staffing standards are met.

To improve shift work, which is considered a major cause of deteriorating working conditions for nurses, the current pilot project will be fully expanded and institutionalized in 2024. Various work systems such as fixed day or evening shifts and dedicated night shifts will be introduced, along with support for hiring necessary substitute personnel. 'Nursing Personnel Support Centers' will be established by city and province to resolve nurses' difficulties, and compensation for securing experienced nurses in essential medical fields will be strengthened.

Furthermore, in response to the rapid increase in care demand, a pilot project for a 'Visiting Nursing Integrated Service Center' will be promoted, where teams of doctors, nurses, and physical therapists centered on regional medical institutions will comprehensively provide visiting care services to establish a visiting nursing service system connecting medical care and caregiving. Separately from this plan, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to announce improvements to the nursing and care integrated service system in the first half of this year.

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong stated, "Nursing personnel are essential workers who care for patients in medical settings and protect the health of the people, so the government will continuously strive to cultivate high-quality nursing personnel and ensure that they have long-term careers in the field to provide excellent nursing services to the public," adding, "We plan to continuously supplement the system to meet the demands of the nursing field and the public."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.