Ministry of Health and Welfare to Launch Pilot Projects at 10 Universities Next Year
A plan to shorten the mathematics period for bachelor's degree transfer students in the Department of Nursing to 2 years is being promoted. This is to address the shortage of nursing personnel.
According to the 'Policy Research for the Introduction of an Intensive Nursing Bachelor Transfer Program' report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 12th, the research team proposed a pilot project to develop this curriculum this year with a total budget of 900 million KRW and operate such a program for 2 years starting next year.
Currently, students transferring into the nursing department typically start from the second-year course. It takes 3 years to obtain the degree, and the core idea is to reduce this to 2 years to expedite the expansion of nurse supply.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is discussing operating this intensive nursing bachelor transfer pilot program from next year with a total quota of 400 students across 10 universities.
This research follows the comprehensive government measures to support nursing personnel prepared in April last year.
The number of licensed nursing personnel per 100 people in Korea is 19.2, higher than the OECD average of 14.8, but the number of active nursing personnel is 5.9, lower than the OECD average of 9.1. This ranks 25th out of 34 OECD countries.
The government announced a goal to increase the number of nurses to a level where one nurse cares for five patients, planning to further expand nursing college quotas in the 2025 academic year and prepare a quota allocation plan by university by the end of the year. Accordingly, since the 2019 academic year, nursing college admission quotas have been increased by 700 students annually compared to the previous year.
The number of nursing colleges in Korea increased from 127 in 2006 to 203 in 2020, and the admission quota also rose by 86% during the same period, from 11,159 to 20,762. Nevertheless, the shortage of nursing personnel has not improved in local areas as well as in metropolitan general hospitals and university hospitals.
The research team stated in the report, “Besides increasing the admission quota for nursing departments, it is necessary to diversify the channels for nurse supply and demand,” adding, “Although the government has expanded transfer admissions since 2010, the increase policy has been implemented temporarily, making it difficult to provide quality nursing education. Compared to other majors, the one-year longer education period causes economic burdens and loss of educational resources.”
According to a demand survey conducted by the research team targeting 500 students from other academic majors, 41.8% (209 people) responded that they would apply if they could graduate within 2 years through the nursing bachelor transfer program.
However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that the project can only proceed after consultation with the Ministry of Education, the project owner, and that once the consultation is completed, it will be actively promoted. Kangseop Lim, Director of the Nursing Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, “The Ministry of Education is considering fairness with other transfer programs in different departments.”
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