22 Sudogwon Tertiary Hospitals to Conduct Nurse Recruitment Interviews Simultaneously Starting Next Year

To resolve the so-called ‘waiting nurse’ issue, where new nurses are sequentially assigned over several months, 22 tertiary hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area will conduct new nurse recruitment interviews simultaneously starting next year.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced this plan on the 5th after consulting with the Korean Hospital Association, the Korean Nurses Association, and others. From the 2024 recruitment cycle, the final interviews for new nurses at the 22 metropolitan hospitals will be held during the same period, either in July or October, depending on each hospital’s autonomous choice. The specific dates for the final nurse interviews will be coordinated among hospitals at the beginning of each year.

Until now, some large hospitals have operated a ‘waiting order system’ where new nurses are hired all at once but assigned sequentially. Successful nurse candidates have expressed anxiety over the long waiting period and difficulties adapting clinically after hiring. At the same time, hospitals have raised concerns about staffing shortages caused by nurses resigning due to sudden assignments from other hospitals.

With simultaneous recruitment interviews, it is expected that the number of resignations caused by nurses accepting multiple hospital offers will decrease, thereby reducing urgent staffing shortages in small and medium-sized hospitals.

Additionally, the Ministry of Health and Welfare emphasized that it will support voluntary improvement efforts by large hospitals in cooperation with the Korean Nurses Association and the Korean Hospital Association by distributing new nurse recruitment guidelines. These guidelines recommend that large hospitals notify candidates of their waiting order and expected start month, accurately estimate required personnel, and conduct regular assignments. For example, at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, which introduced a quarterly assignment system for new nurses last year, the turnover rate of new nurses decreased by 3.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year, and nurse satisfaction increased after advance notice of assignment dates.

Yoon Dong-seop, president of the Korean Hospital Association, stated, “The new nurse recruitment guidelines and the expansion of simultaneous interviews at metropolitan tertiary hospitals aim to minimize duplicate acceptances and appointment refusals of new nurses at large hospitals, encouraging hospitals to voluntarily participate in alleviating nursing shortages at small and medium-sized hospitals. We hope this will help somewhat resolve the nursing workforce shortage.”

Kim Young-kyung, president of the Korean Nurses Association, said, “Appropriate supply and management of nurses are closely related to patient safety, and considering that protecting the public’s right to health is a major national responsibility, we believe that these new nurse recruitment guidelines and the expansion of simultaneous interviews at metropolitan tertiary hospitals can serve as a measure to eradicate the ‘waiting nurse’ practice.”

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