Optimal Nursing Workforce and Financial Cost to Provide Comprehensive Nursing Service in the National Health Insurance System

This study estimated the optimal nursing workforce and financial costs of providing comprehensive nursing services at hospitals under the national health insurance system. Data on registered nurses, nursing aids, medical institutions, and number of patients were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The optimal size of the nursing workforce was calculated using the workload model. A bottom-up approach was used to estimate the annual total financial cost of comprehensive nursing services. The number of registered nurses and nursing aids would need to be increased by 81.75% and 83.23%, respectively, in order to fully apply comprehensive nursing care on a national scale. The additional financial costs for comprehensive nursing services at all hospitals was estimated to be as much as 110.39% of the current cost. For the comprehensive nursing service, nurses with a career and newcomers need to be retained at their hospitals, and the validity of the nurse-patient ratio should be continuously checked. The financial shock to the national health insurance system could be minimized by gradually extending the system to all hospitals.