Despite a 32% Increase in Nurses, Regional Bed Assignments Still Vary by Up to 2.5 Times

Over 70,000 More Nurses Added in Five Years
Concentration in Seoul Metropolitan Area and Major Cities Persists

As the number of clinical nurses in South Korea increases, the number of beds assigned to each nurse has decreased. However, regional disparities remain significant.

On July 5, Yonhap News cited data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, reporting that the total number of clinical nurses at healthcare institutions nationwide (based on end-of-December reports each year) rose from 225,462 in 2020 to 298,554 in 2025, an increase of approximately 73,000, or 32.4%. Looking specifically at medical institutions at the hospital level or higher, excluding clinics without inpatient facilities or Korean medicine clinics, the average number of nurses per institution also rose from 90.5 in 2020 to 125.1 in 2025.

A nurse is moving busily in a general hospital in Seoul.

With the increase in nursing staff, the national average number of authorized beds per nurse improved from 1.9 in 2020 to 1.31 in 2025. Nevertheless, there are still notable differences by region.

In 2020, the number of authorized beds per nurse was 1.2 in Seoul, 1.5 in Jeju, and 1.6 in Incheon. In contrast, Jeonnam recorded 3.0 beds and Gyeongbuk 3.1 beds per nurse, about 2.5 times higher than Seoul. Even last year, metropolitan areas were still at the top: Seoul had 0.90 beds per nurse, Incheon 1.11 beds, and Ulsan 1.21 beds. In comparison, Chungbuk recorded 1.76 beds and Jeonnam 2.29 beds per nurse. A lower number of beds per nurse means there are more nurses available per bed.

Experts in the nursing sector have pointed out that regional disparities in the size of the workforce, combined with factors such as wage levels and work intensity, have created a vicious cycle that perpetuates chronic staffing shortages.

They explain that in regions with relatively fewer nurses, staff tend to move to neighboring areas where working conditions are better. This prevents the regional gap from closing and further deteriorates working conditions in the understaffed areas. Chronic staff shortages and heavy workloads have also been cited as reasons behind persistent workplace bullying in the nursing sector, a phenomenon known as 'Taeum.'

The Korean Nurses Association recently called for effective institutional reforms to address staff shortages, referencing a recent case in Gyeonggi Province in which a nurse died by suicide after resigning due to workplace bullying. The association stated, "Through the current nursing law amendment under review, we will establish a legal standard for the number of patients assigned to each nurse and, after the bill passes, cooperate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and other relevant agencies to ensure strict compliance in the field." They added, "We will expand the counseling functions of the Nurse Workforce Support Center and broaden the scope of the nurse educator system—currently operated mainly at general hospitals with more than 300 beds—to better protect newly hired nurses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.