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Lee, Kang, Ko, Cho, and Kim: Issues and Challenges of Nurse Workforce Policy: A Critical Review and Implication
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration 2014; 20(1): 106-116.

Published online: 29 January 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2014.20.1.106

Issues and Challenges of Nurse Workforce Policy: A Critical Review and Implication

Taewha Lee1, Kyeong Hwa Kang2, Yu Kyung Ko3, Sung-Hyun Cho4, Eun-Young Kim5

1College of Nursing, Nursing Policy Research Institute, Yonsei University, Korea.

2Division of Nursing, Hallym University, Korea.

3Department of Nursing, Wonkwang University, Korea.

4College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Korea.

5Department of Nursing, Dong-A University, Korea.

Corresponding author: Kim, Eun-Young. Department of Nursing, Dong-A Uiversity, 32 Daesingongwon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 602-714, Korea. Tel: +82-51-240-2785, Fax: +82-51-240-2920, eykim@dau.ac.kr

Received 14 November 2013       Revised 18 December 2013       Accepted 23 December 2013

Copyright © 2014 Korean Academy of Nursing Administration

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper issues and challenges of the workforce policy for nursing were explored and appropriate policy responses identified.

Results

Many countries, including South Korea, are facing a shortage of nurses. In South Korea, the number of practicing registered nurses is about half the average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. The shortage of nurses is not necessarily a shortage of individuals with nursing qualifications but also includes complex issues, such as lack of well-educated nurses, shortage of nurses willing to work, and geographical imbalances of nurses. The present nurse workforce policies are to increase number of nursing schools, to reduce the length of training, and to replace nurses with nursing assistants. However, the findings of many studies have shown that these attempts resulted in a worsening of patient outcomes and increasingly low quality of care.

Conclusion

The findings in this study indicate that nurse workforce policy should have a multi-faceted approach in order to address the many factors affecting nurse shortages.

Keywords: Nurse education, Nurse staffing, Skill-mix, Nursing policy

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Korean Registered Nurses and Nurse Aids
jkana-20-106-i001

Source: Ministry of Health & Welfare (2013).

Table 2
Distribution of Population, Inpatient Days, and Practicing Registered Nurses (RNs) by Administrative District
jkana-20-106-i002

Source: Statistics Korea (2010) & Statistics Korea (2011).

Table 3
Korean Nurses' Turnover Rate
jkana-20-106-i003

Source: Noh et al. (2011).

Notes

This research was supported by the Korean Academy of Nursing Administration Research Fund.

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