煤礦坑裡的金絲雀──全球護理罷工潮的省思

Canary in the Coal Mine: Reflections on the Current Global Wave of Nursing Strikes

近年來，全球各地正在掀起護理罷工浪潮，愈來愈多的醫護人員被迫走上街頭抗爭以尋求安全的執業環境及病人照護福祉。因為長期在高度負荷、薪資不公及人力短缺、人員配置不足的環境下工作，讓醫護人員承受著極大的壓力導致身心俱疲。在醫療保健系統中，護理師是病人照護「煤礦坑裡的金絲雀」（canary in the coal mine），見微知著，一連串的全球醫護罷工是對醫療保健系統潰堤所發出的警示；這些不僅關係到病人照護安全，甚至影響國家經濟成長和社會政治穩定。因為對健康照護缺乏投資、不僅造成勞動力短缺，經濟萎靡不振，投資卻步，如此惡性循環將不利全民健康福祉，最終將削弱國力，值得社會大眾深思與重視。因此，本文藉由回顧護理師罷工的導因，概述罷工的相關概念，揭示醫護罷工可能帶來的衝擊，同時探討台灣護理執業環境現況，並反思護理專業團體在罷工的角色與著力點。我們強烈呼籲政府應積極投資護理與健康照護、為經濟成長鋪路，並透過更公平的薪酬與更好的工作條件來顯現對護理師的重視與保護；有護理師，才有未來。

A worldwide wave of nurse strikes has erupted. Labor strikes represent a last resort measure and are a powerful means for nurses to fight back against adverse working conditions such as heavy workloads, unfair pay, and unsafe staffing conditions that not only affect patient care outcomes but also economic growth and social political stability. Despite the pandemic placing most nurses under extremely stressful conditions for an extended period of time, nurses remained on duty to cope with the changing circumstances while continuing to provide high-quality care. Overwhelmed nurses worldwide are the“canary in the coal mine”, with the current strikes sounding the alarm about the urgent need to increase investments in our fragile health system. In this article, the concept underlying labor strikes is outlined, the potential impacts of strike actions are presented, the status quo of nursing practice in Taiwan is discussed, and the readiness of nursing professional organizations for industrial action is considered. We call on the government to invest further in healthcare to both stimulate economic growth and give more respect, value, protect and identity to nurses through fairer pay and better working conditions.