The shortage of nurses has been a major problem recently. According to 1995 statistics by the Department of Health, only about 53.5 percent of nurses stay in this line of work. Obviously, nurses are not highly motivated to stay in the field. Why?

Take the students in the nursing college for example. Their ages indicate that these students are in the critical stage of establishing their personal careers and discovering what they want to do. If they do not have a sufficient understanding of nursing, they may not want to enter the field after graduation, or they may not be able to adjust themselves to the environment and may decide to leave after working for a while.

One of the reasons for quitting is family life. Nurses usually have to work in three shifts. Because of their fluctuating work schedule, many nurses transfer to administrative work after they are married, or they quit because they cannot manage both their work and their family lives.

Shih Je-chen, head nurse of the department of family medicine ICU at Taiwan University Hospital, has been in the field for twenty-eight years. During her eight years in the ICU, she often had to work in the evenings. When she was about to get married, she pondered over whether she should quit. Her first thought was to transfer to another department in order to stay with nursing. If she could not do that, she would then quit her job completely.

Shih commented that the structure of a hospital is also an important element for making nurses stay. This includes a reasonable salary, good benefits, on-the-job training and opportunities for further study. For example, Taiwan University Hospital organizes social groups for its employees to reduce their pressure. The hospital also has a day care center, so that employees with children can work without worrying about their children. In addition, the hospital does not open up more beds when there is a shortage of nurses in order to avoid putting an additional burden on them.

"Actually, recognition and affirmation of nurses are the most important factors." Shih explains that in a medical group, nurses have their own professional image. In order to improve it, there must be a policy encouraging further education, laws governing the profession must be passed, and a system for promotion on the basis of professional skills must be established. The nurses' own hard work cannot be overlooked either.

Nurses should realize that they do not just transmit doctors' orders to patients. They are bridges between doctors and patients. They must constantly discover patients' needs, plan out ways to meet those needs, and then apply their skills to them.